The Battle of Barashka was fought on 5 July 1943 during the Battle of Kursk. After the Third Battle of Kharkov, the Germans regained the initiative and planned a two-pronged attack on Kursk to encircle and annihilate all Soviet troops in the salinet. At the start of Operation Citadelle, the German northern prong crossed the Oka River at the little village of Barashka. During the fighting, the village was completely destroyed, never to be rebuilt. While the Germans ultimately succeeded in pushing the Russians back for 6 miles, the Soviets launched an armored counterattack on 6 July and negated the Germans' initial successes.