Operation Gallop

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian. (May 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at [[:it:Operazione Galoppo]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|it|Operazione Galoppo}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

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Operation Gallop
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Date 29 January – 18 February 1943 Location Donbas Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Erich von Manstein	Nikolai Vatutin
Strength
Initial strength [1] 160,000 men 160 tanks	Initial strength[1] 325,000 men 362 tanks

Operation Gallop (Russian: Операция Скачок, romanized: Operatsiya Skachok) was a Soviet Army operation on the Eastern Front of World War II. The operation was part of a series of counteroffensives after the encirclement of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) following the German Summer offensive in 1942. The Soviet High Command expected a collapse of the German front line in southern Russia and northeast Ukraine and launched a number of counteroffensives to exploit the weak German situation. The operation was launched on 29 January 1943 in conjunction with Operation Star and aimed against Voroshilovgrad (Luhansk), Donetsk, and then towards the Sea of Azov to cut off all German forces east of Donetsk. It was conducted by the Southwestern Front, commanded by Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin. The offensive was initially successful as the Soviets broke through the weak German lines. The Germans were pushed back to a line west of Voroshilovgrad.^[2][3]

In face of a total collapse in the south the German command arranged a number of reorganisations and created a new Army Group South out of the shattered forces of the old Army Groups A, B and Don, under the command of Erich von Manstein. The Soviet offensives, initially successful, ultimately outran their supply lines, and during a counteroffensive at Kharkov, the Germans were able to regain the momentum. The result would be a last German strategic offensive at Kursk.^[2][3]