Posted 19 июня 2020,, 07:53

Published 19 июня 2020,, 07:53

Modified 24 декабря 2022,, 22:37

Updated 24 декабря 2022,, 22:37

Ministry of Defense declassified the archival documents about the first days of the Great Patriotic War

Ministry of Defense declassified the archival documents about the first days of the Great Patriotic War

19 июня 2020, 07:53
Фото: kleinburd.ru
The Ministry of Defense launched a project in which previously unknown archival documents about the first days of the Great Patriotic War were declassified.

The First Days of the Great War project included the operative and reconnaissance reports of the General Staff of the Red Army, front-line reports, ciphergrams, as well as recollections of participants of the first battles and also the diaries.

- Declassified documents indicate that in some parts of the front, despite the dire situation of the Red Army, our units were able to not only inflict damage on the enemy, but also gain first victories and throw off the adversaries back over the state border, the agency reports.

From the documents it follows that the command of the Red Army attached great importance to the analysis of the situation on the fronts. Assessing the behavior of the enemy, the commanders noted that “the Germans did not bear down at night”, showed “carelessness in the location of the tank units to rest”, were very afraid of bayonet attacks and after the shoutings “hurrah” they would rush to escape; "at the appearance of our fighter aircrafts, even one, the German bombers leave”.

At the same time, the Soviet commanders, analyzing the troops, noted their shortcomings. For example, poor armor of the T-26 tank, lack of accuracy in shooting tankers, lack of auto repair shops in the rear, maps of command personnel and others.

One of the documents testifies to the fact that writers Sergei Mikhalkov, Alexander Twardovsky, Mikhail Matusovsky, Boris Gorbatov and others were called in from the reserve to cover combat everyday life in the very first war days.

The publication of archival materials is aimed on protection of historical truth, countering falsifications of history, attempts to revise the results of the Great Patriotic War, the agency notes.

Let us recall that earlier the Ministry of Defense declassified materials on the liberation of Warsaw from the Nazis.