The following Soviet units fought in the Odessa Offensive between 26 March and 30 April 1944.
For the offensive, the 3rd Ukrainian Front included 57 rifle and three cavalry divisions, a tank corps and a mechanized corps. According to a postwar history, these totaled 470,000 men, 12,678 guns and mortars, 435 tanks and self-propelled guns. The front was supported by the 17th Air Army with 436 combat aircraft. The 3rd Ukrainian Front's report on the operation, drawn up in August 1944, provides figures for the operational strength of the front on 28 March: 243,074 men, 42,512 submachine guns, 4,824 machine guns, and 344 tanks and self-propelled guns (only counting those in the 23rd Tank Corps and Cavalry-Mechanized Group), 2,112 mortars, 1,616 field guns, and 781 anti-aircraft guns.
Abbreviations used Military rank LTG = Lieutenant general (General-leytenant) LTGAv = Lieutenant General of Aviation LTGTF = Lieutenant General of Tank Forces MG = Major general (General-mayor) MGAv = Major General of Aviation MGTF = Major General of Tank Forces COL = Colonel (Polkovnik) LTC = Lieutenant Colonel (Podpolkovnik) MAJ = Major (Mayor) Other k = Killed w = Wounded
Command The Soviet forces involved in the offensive were part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, commanded by Army General Rodion Malinovsky. Lieutenant General Fyodor Korzhenevich served as front chief of staff and Lieutenant General Aleksey Zheltov as front commissar.
Ground forces 57th Army Lieutenant General Nikolay Gagen Units Component units Strength Losses9th Rifle Corps: MG Ivan Rosly (transferred from 28th Army)118th Rifle Division: COL Fyodor Dobrovolsky230th Rifle Division: COL Iosif Kazakov301st Rifle Division: COL Vladimir Antonov64th Rifle Corps: MG Mikhail Anashkin73rd Guards Rifle Division: MG Semyon Kozak19th Rifle Division: MG Pavel Lazarev52nd Rifle Division: COL Leonid Milyayev68th Rifle Corps: MG Nikolay Shkodunovich93rd Rifle Division: MG Apollon Kruze113th Rifle Division: COL Pyotr Dmitriyev223rd Rifle Division: COL Pyotr TatarchevskyReserves and separate units96th Separate Tank Brigade: COL Valentin Kulibabenko93rd Separate Antitank Rifle Battalion 37th Army Lieutenant General Mikhail Sharokhin Units Component units Strength Losses6th Guards Rifle Corps: MG Grigory Kotov20th Guards Rifle Division: MG Nikolay Dreyer195th Rifle Division: COL Ivan Kholodov57th Rifle Corps: MG Fyodor Ostashenko58th Guards Rifle Division: COL Vladimir Rusakov, succeeded by COL Vasily Katsurin 15 April92nd Guards Rifle Division: COL Mitrofan Matveyev228th Rifle Division: COL Pavel Kulikov, succeeded by COL Ivan Yesin 28 March82nd Rifle Corps: MG Pavel Kuznetsov10th Guards Airborne Division: MG Mikhail Mikeladze, succeeded by COL Andrey Petrushin 9 April28th Guards Rifle Division: MG Georgy Chumayev188th Rifle Division: COL Vasily DanilenkoReserves and separate units15th Guards Rifle Division: MG Pyotr Chirkov22nd Separate Armored Train Battalion
46th Army Lieutenant General Vasily Glagolev
The 31st Guards Rifle Corps was in the army's second echelon at the beginning of the offensive, engaging in battle from 6 April to 24 April. Units Component units Strength Losses31st Guards Rifle Corps: MG Arkhip Ruchkin 4th Guards Rifle Division: COL Kuzma Parfyonov 2,921 officers and men, 859 horses (6 April)34th Guards Rifle Division: MG Filipp Braylyan 3,949 officers and men, 830 horses (6 April)12 killed, 37 wounded (with 34th RC)40th Guards Rifle Division: MG Grigory Panchenko 3,009 officers and men, 683 horses (6 April)32nd Rifle Corps: MG Dmitry Zherebin60th Guards Rifle Division: MG Vasily Sokolov259th Rifle Division: MG Aleksey Vlasenko266th Rifle Division: COL Savva Fomichenko34th Rifle Corps: MG Ivan Kosobutsky236th Rifle Division: MG Ivan Fesin202 killed, 1,204 wounded (to 15 April)394th Rifle Division: MG Aleksandr Lisitsyn338 killed, 1,371 wounded (to 15 April)Reserves and separate units353rd Rifle Division: MG Fyodor Kolchuk81 killed, 209 wounded (with 34th RC)
8th Guards Army Colonel General Vasily Chuikov Units Component units Strength Losses4th Guards Rifle Corps: LTG Vasily Glazunov 35th Guards Rifle Division: MG Ivan Kulagin47th Guards Rifle Division: MG Sergey Bobruk, COL Vasily Shugayev from 26 March57th Guards Rifle Division: MG Afanasy Shemenkov28th Guards Rifle Corps: MG Stepan Morozov39th Guards Rifle Division: LTC Viktor Shtrigol79th Guards Rifle Division: MG Leonid Vagin88th Guards Rifle Division: MG Boris Pankov, COL Yefim Marchenko from 6 April29th Guards Rifle Corps: MG Ivan Kravtsov, LTG Sergey Bobruk from 28 March, LTG Yakov Fokanov from 13 April27th Guards Rifle Division: MG Gleb Baklanov74th Guards Rifle Division: COL Dmitry Bakanov82nd Guards Rifle Division: MG Ivan Makarenko, LTC Matvey Karnaukhov from 2 AprilReserves and separate units152nd Rifle Division: COL Andrian Kuzin5th Guards Separate Tank Regiment
6th Army Lieutenant General Ivan Shlyomin Units Component units Strength Losses34th Guards Rifle Corps: MG Nikolay Makovchuk 59th Guards Rifle Division: MG Georgy Karamyshev 61st Guards Rifle Division: MG Leonid Lozanovich 243rd Rifle Division: COL Makariy Togolev 66th Rifle Corps: MG Dmitry Kupryanov203rd Rifle Division: MG Gavriil Zdanovich244th Rifle Division: MG Georgy Afanasyev333rd Rifle Division: MG Anisim Golosko
5th Shock Army Colonel General Vyacheslav Tsvetayev Units Component units Strength Losses10th Guards Rifle Corps: MG Ivan Rubanyuk 86th Guards Rifle Division: COL Vasily Pavlovich Sokolovsky 3,998 personnel (1 April), 3,735 personnel (10 April)109th Guards Rifle Division: COL Ilya Baldynov 3,076 personnel (1 April), 2,899 personnel (10 April)320th Rifle Division: MG Ilya Shvygin 3,537 personnel (1 April), 3,382 personnel (10 April)37th Rifle Corps: MG Sergey Gorokhov49th Guards Rifle Division: COL Vasily Margelov3,961 personnel (1 April), 3,779 personnel (10 April)108th Guards Rifle Division: COL Sergey Dunayev3,047 personnel (27 March), 2,994 personnel (1 April), 2,932 personnel (10 April) 248th Rifle Division: COL Nikolay Galay3,382 personnel (27 March), 3,304 personnel (1 April), 3,185 personnel (10 April) 416th Rifle Division: MG Dmitry Syzranov3,604 personnel (27 March), 3,462 personnel (1 April), 3,828 personnel (10 April)Reserves and separate units295th Rifle Division: COL Aleksandr Dorofeyev4,474 personnel (1 April), 4,202 personnel (10 April)1st Guards Fortified Region: COL Sergey Nikitin2,396 personnel (1 April), 2,408 personnel (10 April)
Cavalry-Mechanized Group Lieutenant General Issa Pliyev Units Component units Strength Losses4th Guards Mechanized Corps: LTGTF Trofim Tanaschishin (killed 31 March 1944), MGTF Vladimir Zhdanov13th Guards Mechanized Brigade: LTC Pyotr Arshinov, COL Yakov Trotsenko from 17 April14th Guards Mechanized Brigade: COL Nikodim Nikitin15th Guards Mechanized Brigade: LTC Mikhail Andrianov36th Guards Tank Brigade: COL Pyotr Zhukov37th Guards Tank Regiment (organic to 15th Guards Mechanized Brigade)38th Guards Tank Regiment (organic to 13th Guards Mechanized Brigade)39th Guards Tank Regiment (organic to 15th Guards Mechanized Brigade)4th Guards Cavalry Corps: LTG Issa Pliyev9th Guards Cavalry Division: MG Ivan Tutarinov 10th Guards Cavalry Division: COL Nikolay Gadalin, COL Sergey Shevchuk from 6 April (captured 11 April), COL Mikhail Poprikaylo from 12 April 30th Cavalry Division: MG Vasily Golovskoy 128th Separate Tank Regiment (attached to the 10th Guards Cavalry Division): LTC Mikhail Sazonov11 х М4А2 Sherman, 10 x Valentine Mk III (30 March)134th Separate Tank Regiment (attached to the 30th Cavalry Division): COL Nikolay Ognev9 x M4A2 Sherman, 9 x Valentine Mk III (30 March)151st Separate Tank Regiment (attached to 9th Guards Cavalry Division): MAJ Nikolay Savin (killed 10 April), MAJ Pavel Bakin9 x M4A2 Sherman, 10 x Valentine Mk III, (30 March)
Front reserves Corps Units Component units Strength Losses2nd Guards Mechanized Corps: LTGTF Karp Sviridov4th Guards Mechanized Brigade: COL Mikhail Lyashchenko5th Guards Mechanized Brigade: COL Fyodor Safronov6th Guards Mechanized Brigade: COL Aleksandr Roslov37th Guards Tank Brigade: LTC Ivan Kharin23rd Guards Tank Regiment24th Guards Tank Regiment25th Guards Tank Regiment23rd Tank Corps: MGTF Aleksey Akhmanov3rd Tank Brigade: COL Ivan Devyatko39th Tank Brigade: COL Aleksey Lyskin135th Tank Brigade: COL Mikhail Beznoshchenko30 T-34 tanks (29 March)56th Motor Rifle Brigade: LTC Filipp Shtanko1,349 men, including 700 active bayonets (29 March)139 killed, 576 wounded, 36 sick, 6 missing
Smaller units Unit Strength Losses10th Separate Automatic Weapons Battalion5th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade: LTC Nikolay Zavyalov28th Guards Separate Tank Regiment35th Separate Tank Regiment43rd Separate Tank Regiment52nd Separate Tank Regiment398th Guards Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Regiment864th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment1200th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment1201st Self-propelled Artillery Regiment1202nd Self-propelled Artillery Regiment1891st Self-propelled Artillery Regiment3rd Guards Motorcycle Regiment53rd Motorcycle Regiment67th Motorcycle Battalion26th Separate Armored Train Battalion28th Separate Armored Train Battalion
Air forces 17th Air Army Colonel General of Aviation Vladimir Sudets Units Component units Strength Losses1st Mixed Aviation Corps: MGAv Vladimir Shevchenko 5th Guards Assault Aviation Division: COL Leonid Kolomeytsev 288th Fighter Aviation Division: COL Boris Smirnov 9th Mixed Aviation Corps: LTGAv Oleg Tolstikov 305th Assault Aviation Division: COL Nikolay Mikhevichev 306th Assault Aviation Division: COL Aleksandr Ivanov 295th Fighter Aviation Division: COL Anatoly Silverstov Separate units244th Bomber Aviation Division: LTC Pavel Nedosekin 262nd Night Bomber Aviation Division: COL Gennady Belitsky 371st Night Bomber Aviation Regiment39th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment96th Corrective-Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment282nd Separate Signal Aviation Regiment3rd Medical Aviation Regiment14th Aviation Regiment, Civil Air Fleet
References
Citations
Bibliography
Military documents
(Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, fond 3544, opus 0000001, file 0006) (TsAMO, fond 243, opus 0002928, file 0061) (TsAMO, fond 401, opus 9511, file 453) (TsAMO, fond 3470, opus 1, file 323) (Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, fond 3387, opus 0000001, file 0025) (Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, fond 243, opus 2900, file 729)