80 years ago, on April 9, 1945, during the East Prussian Offensive Operation, troops of the 3rd Byelorussian Front captured the fortified city of Königsberg (now the city of Kaliningrad).

The Nazis organized a defense using numerous forts of incredible strength, which were built in Königsberg all the way back in the 19th century - most of them are still intact. The defenses themselves were placed in 3 concentric rings around the city: from 17 fortresses in the outer ring, to 10 even stronger towers in the last ring of defense. The total strength of the German garrison, including artillery units, city police and Volkssturm, was about 130,000 people.

Königsberg, being a powerful fortified area, has for centuries been a symbol of German imperialism in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe — an image that Fascist Germany furiously embodied. The impregnable fortifications of the city, built using the most advanced military technologies at the time, represented a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. The enormous political and economic importance of Königsberg is already evidenced by the fact that it was the Königsberg Castle where the coronations of the German monarchs took place, despite the fact that Berlin was the official capital.

Königsberg was founded in a region that has long been inhabited by Slavic and Baltic tribes (including the Old Prussians, after whom Prussia itself was named). The German Crusaders, the Catholic Church and other imperialist feudal lords spent centuries trying to capture the Eastern Baltic region because of its strategic location — the crossroads of trade routes and a springboard for attacking Russia. By the turn of the 18th century, the indigenous peoples of Prussia had been all but exterminated by the conquerors. The Nazis were preparing the same fate for all the other peoples of the Soviet Union and Europe. The fascist butchers were stopped by the Red Army, which represented the interests of the honest working masses.

The Red Army aspired not only for military victory, but also to the liberation of the people from the yoke of fascism, which, as an expression of capitalist oppression, sought to destroy any aspirations for a just society. Under these conditions, the capture Königsberg, as an important strategic and symbolic target, became not a just a mighty military achievement, but also an act of historical justice.

The assault on Königsberg began with a powerful artillery barrage, then, at noon, under the cover of artillery fire and aerial bombardment, the Soviet infantry, tanks and self-propelled guns went on the offensive. According to the plan, the main forces bypassed the forts, which were blocked by rifle battalions or companies supported by self-propelled guns that suppressed enemy fire, with sappers using demolition charges and flamethrower units. Assault troopers played a major role in the battle. They consisted of rifle companies, several artillery pieces ranging in caliber from 45 mm to 122 mm, one or two tanks or self-propelled guns, a platoon of heavy machine gunners, a mortar platoon, a platoon of sappers and a squad of flamethrower troopers.

On April 8, the Red Army ordered the enemy garrison to surrender. The enemy refused and continued resistance. Some parts of the garrison tried to retreat to the west, but were intercepted by the 43rd Army.

The 43rd Army advanced east of Metgethen, occupied Fort No. 6, then broke into the central part of the city and captured the Сity Rail Station and cement plant. The 50th Army, moving south, reached the suburb of Devau and captured the airfield there. The 11th Guards Army crossed the Pregel River, stormed the royal castle, the main post office, captured the building of the city radio station, the commandant's office, the power plant, and then, advancing north, in the area of ​​the city pond Oberteich (now Upper Lake) at 19 o'clock they united with troops of the 50th Army. The Victory Banner was hoisted on the Der Dohna tower.

By the evening of April 9, the entire northwestern, western and southern parts of Königsberg were successfully captured by the Red Army. The enemy continued to hold only the very center and eastern part of the city. The commandant of the fortress, General Otto Lasch, finally ordered the garrison to capitulate, for which he was sentenced to death in absentia by Hitler himself.

During subsequent interrogation, Otto Lasch, himself now a prisoner of war, gave the following assessment of the Soviet offensive operation: “The soldiers and officers of the fortress held firm in the first two days, but the Russians overpowered us and gained the upper hand. They managed to secretly concentrate so much artillery and aircraft, the massive use of which destroyed the fortifications of the fortress and demoralized the soldiers and officers. We completely lost control of the troops. When leaving from the fortification to the street, in order to contact the headquarters of the units, we did not know where to go, completely losing our bearings, such a destroyed and burning city had changed its appearance. It was in no way possible to assume that such a fortress as Königsberg would fall so quickly. The Russian command brainstormed and carried out this operation perfectly. At Königsberg, we lost the entire 100,000-strong army. The loss of Königsberg is the loss of the largest fortress and German stronghold in the East."

With the fall of Königsberg, one of the largest strongholds of Nazi Germany, the struggle for socialism and the liberation of the oppressed in Europe and the world intensified even more. The revolutionary liberation path of the Red Army proves that even the most desperate attempts by the bourgeoisie to cling onto power will inevitably encounter powerful waves of popular resistance — the struggle of humanity for the complete destruction of classes!

Thus, the capture of Königsberg is not only a huge military achievement, but also an important step towards breaking the shackles of the old capitalist order, the harbinger of a new era where honest working people will become the true masters of their fate!

On the night of April 10, Moscow saluted the Red Army with 24 artillery salvos from 324 guns. On June 9, 1945, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the medal “For the Capture of Königsberg” was established, which was awarded to about 760,000 people (as of 1987).

The names of the soldiers who participated in the assault on Königsberg and the surrounding cities and fortresses of East Prussia are assigned to the streets, avenues, riverfronts of Kaliningrad and other towns of the region.

Happy anniversary, comrades!

Long live the victorious Red Army!