CourageTurning point
The Battle of the Dnieper
The Dnieper river
- soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union for the Dnieper
- 2,438
- soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union for the Dnieper
The enemy hoped to hold behind the wide Dnieper, on its “Eastern Wall”. In autumn 1943 soldiers crossed the river under fire in boats, on rafts, even on barrels and planks. More than two thousand of them were named Heroes of the Soviet Union for these crossings.
In places the Dnieper is more than a kilometre wide, and its right, western bank is high and steep: the enemy looked down on the crossings. At Bukrin and Lyutezh soldiers seized bridgeheads and held them for weeks under constant fire.
Those who reached the right bank first knew that help would not come soon. More people became Heroes of the Soviet Union for crossing the Dnieper than for any other operation of the war.
See it on the map