Operation Uranus: The Soviet's Lethal Trap at Stalingrad

Operation Uranus was the codename for the Soviet strategic operation in World War II that led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the Italian 8th Army inside and around Stalingrad (now Volgograd). The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad, and its objective was to destroy the German forces positioned within the city and around it. Planning for Operation Uranus had commenced in September 1942, and was developed simultaneously with plans to encircle and destroy German Army Group Center and German forces in the Caucasus. The Red Army took advantage of the Wehrmacht's overextension in the Southern Russia, the poor placement of Axis armies along the flanks of the German advance and the oncoming harsh winter. The Axis armies guarding the flanks of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad comprised primarily overextended and weakly equipped Romanian, Hungarian and Italian units. The offensive was a resounding success, trapping a quarter of a million Axis soldiers within a pocket near Stalingrad. The Axis forces trapped within the encirclement were subjected to fierce Soviet attacks and gradually reduced through attrition, disease, and starvation. Casualties amongst the Axis forces trapped in the pocket numbered up to and over 600,000. The victory at Stalingrad marked a significant turning point in the war against Nazi Germany and is widely considered one of the most decisive battles of World War II.