Battle of Shumshu

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Battle of Shumshu
Part of the Invasion of the Kuril Islands during World War II
Damaged Japanese tanks on Shumshu
Date 18–23 August 1945 Location Shumshu, Kuril Islands 50°44′N 156°19′E / 50.733°N 156.317°E / 50.733; 156.317 Result Soviet victory[1] Territorial changes Shumshu annexed by the Soviet Union
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Alexey Gnechko Dmitry Ponomarev	Tsutsumi Fusaki
Units involved
Far Eastern Front 101st Rifle Division[2] 138th Rifle Regiment 373rd Rifle Regiment 279th Light Artillery Regiment 169th Anti-tank Divizion 302nd Separate Rifle Regiment Machine Gun Company Mortar Company Soviet Pacific Fleet 365th Separate Marine Battalion	27th Army[3] 91st Division 11th Armored Regiment 73rd Infantry Brigade 51st Rikusentai Base 52nd Rikusentai Base 31st Air Defence Detachment No 51 and No. 52 Guard Unit, and Shumshu Communications Unit, 12th Air Fleet
Strength
8,821 troops 64 ships and craft	8,480-8,500 troops 77 tanks
Casualties and losses
Soviet claim: 1,516-3,472 total, as 516-2,421 killed or died of wounds (excluding naval personnel)[4] and 1,000-1,051 wounded or missing Five landing ships destroyed Japanese claim: 3,000[citation needed] to 4,500[5] killed and wounded	Japanese claim: 600 total,[5] as 191 killed[6] and c.409 wounded 20 tanks destroyed[7] Soviet claim: 1,018 total, either as: 369 killed and 649 wounded or 473 killed/died of wounds and 545 wounded[4]

The Battle of Shumshu, the Soviet invasion of Shumshu in the Kuril Islands, was the first stage of the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands in August–September 1945 during World War II. It took place from 18 to 23 August 1945, and was the only major battle of the Soviet campaign in the Kuril Islands and arguably the very last battle of World War II.