Stalingrad and Kyiv

Stalingrad was the third largest industrial city of the Soviet Union with population of 600,000. It was a strategic location, but not so much to the extent that the location of Stalingrad alone would determine the fate of the war. In August 1942, the 6th Corps 25 Divisions of the German Army marched to Stalingrad. Eight of the divisions were assigned to attack the city.

The German military knew the difficulties of street battles, and thus annihilated the buildings with large scale bombings and entered the streets. The Soviet Union forces, which were merely 10,000, managed to hold out for a month with civilian soldiers, but were held under siege. At that time, the supporting army arrived from the east. The Soviet Union continued to supply more forces and the street battle of Stalingrad become gruesome.

Both sides seemed to play a game of hide and seek of small groups of less than 10 soldiers as they fought with grenades, guns, and shovels. There were no front lines or defense lines. That was the nightmare-like reality of street battles.

The German army was astounded by the Soviet Union’s urge to fight back so vehemently, but the situation reversed after a while. As more forces poured in from the East side of Siberia, the German forces become under siege by the Soviet Union forces.

The German army had the opportunity to escape, but Hitler forbid them to do so. He dismissed major generals including the Chief of staff when the situation grew worse. Under dismal conditions, the Germans managed to hold out for two months in the ashes of the city. In 1943, 90,000 German forces on the verge of starvation surrendered. Only 1,000 citizens in the city remained alive.

Street battles are the worst of its kind. It is the equivalent of war crime. Russia is reenacting the scene in the Ukraine capital of Kyiv. It is already bombing other cities, and many speculate that it can do worse in Kyiv. Putin has already gone beyond the expectations of the Western world three times. Russia tries to rationalize its invasion citing Ukraine’s massacre of its people in Donbas, which has not been verified. Even if it is true, Russia cannot justify the triggering of war.