The Pruth Offensive (20 June-3 July 1944) was a major offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front and 3rd Ukrainian Front that had the goal of establishing bridgeheads across the Pruth River in northern Romania. Around 1,000,000 Red Army troops took part in the assault on Romania, facing Army Group South Ukraine and other Axis contingents from the Tsardom of Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania itself. After two weeks of fighting, the Soviets managed to push the Axis back to the Bistrita River, and the offensive succeeded in securing a large amount of Romanian territory in the north of the country.
Background[]
Romanian invasion of the USSR[]
Romania entered World War II as a member of the Axis Powers on 23 November 1940, allying with Nazi Germany due to the similarities between the ruling style of the Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu and the German dictator Adolf Hitler. Romania also sought to acquire more land from the Soviet Union, and the Soviets betrayed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact by annexing Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. The Romanians would have their revenge when the Axis launched Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, and the Axis invasion of the USSR allowed for Romania to reoccupy Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in addition to taking over parts of the Ukrainian SSR. Romania would be one of the biggest contributors of troops during the war with the USSR, and thousands of Romanian troops would die fighting alongside German troops in the great war between fascism and communism.
Preparations for the invasion[]
By 1943, however, the war was going poorly for the Axis Powers, with Soviet counterattacks at Stalingrad, Sevastopol, and the Lower Dnieper resulting in the destruction of large Romanian forces. By early 1944, the Soviets had advanced into the Ukraine, and their lines in June 1944 roughly matched the border between the Ukrainian SSR and Moldova. The 2nd Ukrainian Front and 3rd Ukrainian Front prepared to launch an offensive into Moldova and Romania to destroy the Romanian and German Wehrmacht forces in their path, with the newly-formed Army Group South Ukraine under Johannes Friessner defending Romania. The Soviets had far more troops than the Axis armies, and their troops were more experienced than the ill-equipped and poorly-led Romanian troops. The goal of the offensive would be advancing across the Pruth River and into Moldova and Romania, and the Soviets sought to establish a new front line beyond the natural obstacle that the river posed.
Offensive[]
On 20 June 1944, the Red Army began its offensive across the Pruth River into Moldova and Romania, and the two Soviet fronts opened up battlefronts at Targu Neamt, Suceava, and Cetatea Alba. The Soviet armies pushed the German, Romanian, and the other Axis forces back, with the Soviet forces in the north pushing towards the Carpathian mountains as the forces along the shore and in the center of Romania. The Soviets would engage the Axis forces in a slugging match as their march slowed down in the south and center, but they would repel a failed Axis counterattack at Orhei and secure the central and southern fronts of the offensive. In the north, Targu Neamt, Suceava, and Vatra Dornei fell on the same day (26 June 1944), and the Soviets proceeded to secure Piatra Neamt on 3 July 1944. The capture of Piatra Neamt and the withdrawal of German troops beyond the Bistrita River led to the success of the Pruth Offensive, as the Soviets were able to consolidate their gains and establish bridgeheads across the Pruth and Bistrita rivers.