The Demyansk Offensive was an offensive conducted by the Soviet Red Army against the German 16th Army on the Leningrad front of World War II's Eastern Front.
While the Soviets had previously failed to destroy the 16th Army in the Demyansk Pocket in the spring of 1942, the Stavka decided to launch a follow-up offensive to Operation Iskra in January 1943, codenamed Operation Polar Star. The Northwestern Front, Leningrad Front, and Volkhov Front were to join forces to destroy Army Group North and relieve the German siege of Leningrad. Anticipating a Soviet offensive, the German general Georg von Kuechler persuaded Adolf Hitler to allow the withdrawal of his forces back to the line of Staraya Russa and Kholm on 29 January 1943. The Germans strongly fortified the Ramushevo Corridor with mines, pillboxes, and bunkers, and, on 16 February, the Germans began to withdraw unnecessary supplies and equipment from the salient, followed by their main forces the next day. Realizing that the Germans were retreating from the Demyansk salient, the Stavka issued an order to attack.
On 15 February 1943, the Soviet 11th and 53rd Armies attacked to cut the Ramushevo corridor as the 34th Army attacked to the northeast of Demyansk. The Soviets were faced with fierce resistance, and they failed to cut the corridor and prevent the Germans from retreating. On 23 February, the Soviets pressed their attack, with the 27th Army attacking south of Staraya Russa and the 1st Shock Army attacking at the base of the Ramushevo Corridor. By then, however, the Germans had vacated most of the bridgehead. On 28 February, the offensive was stopped due to the Soviets' failure to break the German defenses. On 1 March 1943, the German withdrawal was completed, allowing the Germans to condense their defenses. The German withdrawal from Demyansk and the Rzhev-Vyazma salient removed the Axis threat to Moscow.