Operation Barbarossa in color. 1941
In the early morning of June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the USSR. On the same day, Italy declared war on the USSR (Italian troops began military operations on July 20, 1941) and Romania, Slovakia on June 23, and Hungary on June 27. The German invasion took Soviet troops by surprise; on the first day, a significant part of the ammunition, fuel and military equipment was destroyed; the Germans managed to ensure complete air supremacy (about 1200 aircraft were disabled). German aviation struck at naval bases: Kronstadt, Libava (Liepaja), Vindava (Ventspils), Sevastopol. Submarines were deployed on sea lanes of the Baltic and Black Seas, and minefields were set up. On land, after strong artillery preparation, the advanced units, and then the main forces of the Wehrmacht, went on the offensive. However, the Soviet command could not soberly assess the situation of their troops. In the evening of June 22, the Main Military Council sent directives to the Military Councils of the Fronts demanding that decisive counterattacks be launched in the morning of June 23 against the breakthrough enemy groups. As a result of failed counterattacks, the already difficult situation of the Soviet troops was further aggravated.
A few days after the invasion of the USSR, German and Finnish troops invaded Soviet Karelia and the Arctic, but the fighting was local in nature and had no effect on the overall situation on the Soviet-German front. In historiography, they are usually distinguished into separate campaigns: the Soviet-Finnish War (1941-1944) and the Defense of the Arctic.
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