OnWar.com > MAPS OF WORLD WAR II > EASTERN FRONT 1942-1943 < | > Operation Winter Storm: December 12-18, 1942 German armed forces of Army Group Don made an unsuccessful attempt break through and relieve the German 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad. Soviet military resistance proved too great to overcome with the German units available and the German 6th Army remained isolated.  Soviet Pursuit After Stalingrad: January 13 - March 26, 1943  By the time the German 6th Army surrendered at Stalingrad, the Red Army aggressively pursued the remnants of Army Group Don, now renamed Army Group South, further west. Soviet units recaptured Kharkov and were approaching the Dniepr River. However, the commander of Army Group South, F.M. von Manstein marshaled forces for a counterattack in March 1943 that stabilized the southern wing of the Eastern Front until the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.    Operation Citadel: German Plan for the Kursk Offensive  The objective of the German military offensive was to pinch off the Soviet held salient centered around Kursk. Attacks from north and south were intended to encircle the region. German Offensive North of Kursk: July 4-10, 1943  The German attempt to break through the Soviet defenses in the north proved ineffectual. German Ninth Army continued the effort with heavy losses against the stubborn Soviet Central Front defenses. German Offensive South of Kursk: July 4-15, 1943  German Army Group South forces had somewhat greater success breaking through. Soviet military reserves were ultimately employed to halt the offensive. Soviet Counteroffensive in the Orel Salient:  July 10 - August 18, 1943  Soviet attacks against the Orel salient held by German Army Group Center began before the German offensive in the south was called off. German armed forces holding the salient withdrew under pressure. Soviet Counteroffensive South of Kursk: August 3-23, 1943  The critical situation of Soviet forces in the south delayed the launch of the counteroffensive. Resistance proved greater than around Orel and German counterattacks slowed the progress. Red Army forces recaptured Kharkov for the last time. Red Army Advances to Kiev and Isolates the Crimea August 18 - December 23, 1943  The Soviet follow-up offensive after Kursk carried the Red Army inexorably forward. Although it failed to encircle significant German forces, the Soviet armed forces trapped the German Army Group A in the Crimea and recaptured Kiev before the end of December 1943. OnWar.com > MAPS OF WORLD WAR II > EASTERN FRONT 1942-1943 < | >