Defense of Pskov

Having defeated the troops of the Soviet North-Western Front in a border battle, the German Army Group "North" on July 2 resumed the offensive. Its main striking force was the 4th Panzer Group (commander Colonel General E. Göpner ; three panzer and three motorized divisions) advanced through Rezekne in the direction of Ostrov - Pskov .

On July 3, the enemy captured Rezekne, as a result, a gap arose between the 8th and 27th armies of the North-Western Front. Direction to the Island, Pskov turned out to be covered most weakly.

As early as June 25, the 41st Rifle Corps (Major General I. S. Kosobutsky ; three rifle divisions) and the 1st Mechanized Corps (Major General M. L. Chernyavsky ) were transferred to the North-Western Front with the task of covering up the Pskov direction. However, many divisions of the Soviet corps had yet to arrive in the battle area.

The 111th and 118th infantry divisions (from Yaroslavl and Kostroma , respectively) arrived first from the 41st Rifle Corps. The arrival of the 235th Infantry Division from Ivanov was delayed (the first echelons began to arrive only on July 5).

Fights for the Island

On July 4, the German 1st Panzer Division , which was at the forefront, broke through the defenses of the Ostrovsky fortified area and captured the Island.

The commander of the Northwestern Front, Major General P.P. Sobennikov ordered the units of the 41st Rifle and 1st Mechanized Corps to restore the situation. To solve this problem, a rifle regiment was allocated from the 41st Corps, and a 3rd Panzer Division (without a motorized rifle regiment) from the 1st MK. The chief of staff of the North-Western Front, General N. F. Vatutin, in a telephone conversation with the commander of the 41st Rifle Corps, I. S. Kosobutsky, demanded:

“To eliminate the incident, to destroy the enemy and not give him the opportunity to cross the river. All suitable enemy reinforcements are also destroyed. Keep in mind, the elimination and destruction of the enemy are assigned personally to you, under your personal responsibility. For the execution of this order you answer with your own head. "

On July 5, Soviet troops launched a counterattack and knocked the enemy out of the city, but the approach of the German 6th Panzer Division restored the situation. July 6 - 7, the Soviet attacks in the region of the Island continued, but did not bring any result.

Leaving Pskov

Meanwhile, in the afternoon of July 6, the enemy resumed the offensive: the 1st German Panzer Division began a rapid advance to Pskov, the 6th to Porkhov .

At this time, the echelons of the 235th Infantry Division began to arrive, immediately entering battle. However, the enemy could not be stopped.

In the conditions of confusion and insufficiently clear command and control of the troops, there were cases of unauthorized abandonment of positions and indiscriminate retreat of some units and units. This was facilitated by the departure of the 12th mechanized corps, as well as the rear and construction units of the 8th and 27th armies, and the evacuation of the population. The outgoing units passed through the battle formations of the 41st Rifle Corps and demoralized their personnel. The situation was exacerbated by the impunity of enemy aircraft. The roads were clogged with retreating, so the supply of ammunition, fuel and food was extremely difficult.

On the morning of July 8, the enemy managed to push our weakened units to the northern bank of the Cherekhi River in the Kresty area and on the southern outskirts of Pskov. The commander of the 118th Infantry Division, Major General N. M. Glovatsky, asked the commander of the 41st Corps to allow the division to leave the Velikaya River (according to the general, he received such an order, but was not confirmed during the investigation). By itself, leaving with a good organization did not mean disaster, however, a premature explosion of the Pskov bridge across the Velikaya River led to an erratic retreat at the improvised means of units of the 118th, 111th Infantry Divisions and the 25th Fortified Area remaining on the western bank of the river, and also to heavy losses in people and military equipment, it was the main reason for leaving Pskov and the subsequent withdrawal of troops of the 41st Rifle Corps in diverging directions to Gdov (118th SD) and Luga (111th, 235th and 90th SD )

On July 8, German troops occupied Pskov .

Thus, the defense of the Soviet North-Western Front on the line of fortified areas along the Velikaya River was broken, and a real threat was created that the German 4th Panzer Group would break through to Leningrad (see Leningrad blockade ).

For the abandonment of Pskov, the commander of the 41st Infantry Corps, Major General I. S. Kosobutsky and the commander of the 118th Infantry Division, Major General N. M. Glovatsky, appeared before the Military Tribunal . At first, both were sentenced to death; after the review of the case, Major General N. M. Glovatsky was sentenced to death (executed on August 3, 1941), Major General I. S. Kosobutsky was sentenced to 10 years in prison (in October 1942 he was released and took part in the battles of World War II war, since 1944 - lieutenant general). The chief engineer of the 41st Rifle Corps, a military engineer of the second rank Golovlev, was also shot in July 1941 according to an order on the North-Western Front.

• Badikov R. A. Defense of the Pskov fortified region (1941): statement of the problem // Recent History of Russia. 2013. No. 2. P. 42-47.
• Petrov B.N. How Pskov was abandoned // Military History Journal. 1993. No. 6.