82 Years Since the Liberation of Vilnius: A Decisive Chapter of Operation Bagration

Dragon Media News Desk

Russia has commemorated the 82nd anniversary of the liberation of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, from German occupation by the Red Army during the Second World War.

On July 13, 1944, Soviet forces completely cleared the city of German troops following several days of intense fighting. The liberation of Vilnius was a major achievement of the Vilnius Offensive, conducted as part of the wider strategic Operation Bagration.

The main assault on the city was carried out by the 3rd Byelorussian Front under the command of General of the Army Ivan Chernyakhovsky.

The German military command regarded Vilnius as a key defensive stronghold on the approaches to East Prussia and attempted to retain control of the city at all costs, according to the Russian Military Historical Society.

Fierce battles continued for several days as the Red Army advanced against German positions. Eleven Lithuanian Soviet partisan detachments also took part in the operation and entered Vilnius alongside Soviet troops.

During the fighting, the Red Flag was raised over the historic Gediminas Tower. Russian historical accounts state that the flag remained there for three days.

The Russian account describes the liberation as the second occasion within five years that the Soviet Union returned Lithuania’s capital to the country.

In 1939, the city, then known as Vilna or Vilno, was transferred from Poland to the Republic of Lithuania. Five years later, in 1944, the Red Army expelled the German forces and ended the occupation of Vilnius.

The Vilnius Offensive formed an important part of Operation Bagration, one of the largest Soviet military campaigns of the Second World War.

Launched in the summer of 1944, the operation severely weakened the main German military formation on the Eastern Front and opened the way for the Red Army to advance further into Eastern and Central Europe.

In Russian military history, July 13 is remembered as an important date associated with the victory over Nazi Germany, the sacrifices of Soviet troops and the contribution of Lithuanian partisan units to the liberation of Vilnius.