The Russian Ministry of Defense posted declassified documents on the network about the events of the Great Patriotic War in the summer of 1943.
So, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Joseph Stalin of August 23, 1943, the units that liberated Belgorod, Kursk and Kharkov were assigned the corresponding honorary names. In honor of Soviet soldiers, for the first time in the history of the country in August 1943, fireworks were thundered in Moscow.
Also presented is the directive of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on the approval of the plan for the liberation of Kharkov. The operation became one of the final points of the strategic offensive of the Soviet troops. In this document, despite being labeled "of special importance", the real names of the military leaders are not named in order to avoid leaks. The coordination of the actions of the four fronts was concentrated in the hands of “comrades Yuryev and Aleksandrov,” under whom Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky appear.
The publication of the Ministry of Defense is timed to the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, which took place from July 5 to August 23, 1943. The Battle of Kursk became one of the most significant and large-scale battles during the Great Patriotic War. It entered world history as the largest tank battle. As a result, Soviet troops liberated Kursk, Belgorod, Orel and Kharkov.