28 June 2019 - 75th anniversary of the liberation of Lepel from the Nazi invaders

The town of Lepel was liberated on June 28, 1944, during Operation Bagration, its first part being the Orsha-Vitebsk Offensive, which took place from June 23, 1944, to June 28, 1944.

The town of Lepel found itself on the border of two fronts – the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front. The troops of the 1st Baltic Front were tasked, after encircling Vitebsk, to develop an offensive towards the town of Lepel, for which they were to force the Western Dvina, capture Beshenkovichi, liberate Chashniki, and, in cooperation with the right wing of the 3rd Belorussian Front, advance on Lepel. The 43rd Army, in cooperation with the 39th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, was directly responsible for defeating the Lepel grouping and capturing Lepel.

To liberate Lepel, General Beloborodov (commander of the 43rd Army of the 1st Baltic Front) was ordered by Bagramyan to create an army mobile group. The tank reinforcement for the 43rd Army consisted of the 10th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Volkov N.V. and the 39th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Kalinin I.P.

Effective support was provided by the pilots of General Papivin.

At this time, Guards General Obukhov (3rd Mechanized Corps of the 3rd Belorussian Front) received orders to reach the Berezina River no later than June 28, 1944, having captured the Begoml, Pleschenitsy, Mstizh area, to secure the corps' operations from the north. General Obukhov assigned Lieutenant Colonel Rodionov M.I., commander of the 7th Mechanized Brigade, the task of capturing the town of Lepel and holding it until the infantry of the 1st Baltic Front arrived.

On June 26, the offensive of the 7th Mechanized Brigade (3rd Belorussian Front) began from the Lukoml area. The town of Lepel was defended by the German 99th Infantry Regiment.

The brigade advanced towards Lepel, fighting battles.

The approaches to the town of Lepel from the southeast were mined and heavily defended. Moving along the Bor-Cheretsy-Zalesye road, the brigade turned right at the village of Zalesye and, during the night, reached the Kamen-Lepel highway, and from the northeast (from the direction of the military hospital) launched a surprise attack. In the battles for the town of Lepel, the following distinguished themselves: the company of Senior Lieutenant Plotnikov, the company of Senior Lieutenant Shendruk G., and the motorized rifle companies of the battalion of F.A. Alabushev: on the right flank, they advanced almost the entire first quarter without dismounting. One of the first to break into Lepel was the tank crew of Guards Senior Lieutenant Viktor Alexandrovich Muzyrev.

Near the small square, in the central square, Lieutenant Nikolai Sonin (born in Moscow) perished. He silenced an enemy machine gun, but perished himself, Private Alexei Begunov. In the battles for the city of Lepel, Guards Lieutenant Alexei Fedoseevich Serov from the Voronezh region died. The 1203rd Sapper Battalion, the 211th Assault Aviation Division, part of the forces of the 385th Assault Aviation Division, and the 253rd Fighter Aviation Division participated in the liberation of the city of Lepel.

The 43rd Army (1st Baltic Front) also advanced in the Lepel direction. Against it, the Hitlerites could only use part of the 201st Security Division and units of the 8th Tank Army's military school. The Hitlerites sent the 35th Infantry Division to the Lepel area.

On June 25, the 306th Rifle Division forced the Western Dvina. On the night of June 27, the main forces of the 306th Rifle Division crossed the Ulla River.

On June 27, the 357th Rifle Division (1st Rifle Corps, 43rd Army) liberated Bocheykovo. On June 27, Chashniki was liberated and the advance towards Lepel began.

The units of the 1st Rifle Corps and the tank group had to endure particularly fierce battles towards the end of June 27 while capturing the road junction with the settlement of Plotki (now Bobrovsky rural council), in the area of Ikonki, Lososnitsa (Mezhitsa district). The Germans brought the 212th Infantry Division to the Lepel area.

In a rapid pursuit of the enemy, the rifle corps of the 43rd Army cooperated with the 46th Mechanized Brigade and a tank brigade from the cavalry-mechanized brigade. At 8 a.m. on June 28, 1944, the III Belarusian Front broke into the city of Lepel and, after short battles, captured it. The first to enter was a platoon of the 712th Anti-Tank Fighter Regiment under Junior Lieutenant Badalyan.

Soldiers of the 10th Tank Brigade (Commander N.V. Volkov) also participated in the battles for Lepel.

By occupying the city of Lepel, an important strongpoint and highway junction in the operational depth of the German 3rd Tank Army's defence, and by capturing bridgeheads on the opposite bank of the Essa River, the troops of the 43rd Army concluded the Orsha-Vitebsk Operation.

A large number of Soviet soldiers and partisans were recognised in the battles for the liberation of the Lepel district. Among them was Hero of the Soviet Union, Guards Private, sapper of the 62nd Separate Guards Sapper Battalion of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps, Viktor Sidorovich Kladiev. Born in the Belgorod region, he gave his life for the liberation of Belarusian land on June 30, 1944, while constructing a crossing over the Berezina River on the Lepel-Begoml road. He is buried in the village of Kraytsy.