Key Facts
- Start date
- 28 March 1944
- End date
- 6 May 1944
- Odessa liberated
- 10 April 1944
- Tiraspol captured
- 12 April 1944
- Duration
- ~40 days
Strategic Narrative Overview
The offensive launched on 28 March 1944. Soviet forces captured Nikolayev on the first day, while Pliev's Cavalry-Mechanized Group broke through in the north and seized the Razdelnaya railway junction on 4 April, splitting the 6th Army in two. One portion retreated toward Tiraspol; the other was encircled near Odessa. The German-Romanian forces made a chaotic withdrawal through Ovidiopol, crossing the Dniester Estuary before Odessa was fully cleared by 10 April.
01 / The Origins
Following the Soviet Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka offensive in early March 1944, the German 6th Army was pushed behind the Southern Bug river with Soviet bridgeheads established across it. As part of the second phase of the Dnieper-Carpathian Strategic Offensive, the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front prepared to exploit these gains, aiming to destroy Axis forces between the Southern Bug and Dniester rivers and liberate the Black Sea coast including Odessa.
03 / The Outcome
After liberating Odessa, Soviet forces pursued the retreating Germans to the Dniester, reaching its eastern bank on 11 April and taking Tiraspol on 12 April. Bridgeheads were seized across the Dniester in mid-April. German counterattacks, overextended supply lines, and poor weather halted the Soviet advance on 6 May. The operation secured the northwestern Black Sea coast and positioned Soviet forces along the Soviet-Romanian border.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Issa Pliev (Cavalry-Mechanized Group).
Side B
2 belligerents
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.