The Lvov–Sandomierz offensive or Lvov–Sandomierz strategic offensive operation () was a major

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

operation to force the German troops from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and Eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Launched in mid-July 1944, the operation was successfully completed by the end of August. The

Lvov Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

–

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

offensive is generally overshadowed by the overwhelming successes of the concurrently conducted

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

that led to the destruction of

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

. However, most of the Red Army and Red Air Force resources were allocated, not to Bagration's Belorussian operations, but the Lvov-Sandomierz operations. The campaign was conducted as Maskirovka. By concentrating in southern Poland and Ukraine, the Soviets drew German mobile reserves southward, leaving Army Group Centre vulnerable to a concentrated assault. When the Soviets launched their Bagration offensive against Army Group Center, it would create a crisis in the eastern German front, which would then force the powerful German Panzer forces back to the central front, leaving the Soviets free to then pursue their objectives in seizing western Ukraine, the Vistula bridgeheads, and gaining a foothold in Romania. The offensive was composed of three smaller operations: * Lvov offensive operation (13–27 July 1944) * Stanislav offensive operation (13–27 July 1944) * Sandomierz offensive operation (28 July – 29 August 1944) In Soviet propaganda, this offensive was listed as one of Stalin's ten blows.

Background

By early June 1944, the forces of Field Marshal

Walter Model Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. H ...

Army Group North Ukraine The Army Group North Ukraine () was a major formation of the German army in World War II. History It was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group South under Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model. In April 1944 it consisted of 1st Panzer Arm ...

had been pushed back beyond the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

and were desperately clinging to the north-western corner of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

ordered the total liberation of Ukraine, and

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

, the Soviet High Command, set in motion plans that would become the Lvov-Sandomierz Operation. In the early planning stage, the offensive was known as the Lvov-Przemyśl Operation. The objective of the offensive was for Marshal

Ivan Konev Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf, links=no; 28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forc ...

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...

to liberate Lvov and clear the German troops from Ukraine and capture a series of bridgeheads on the

Vistula river The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra ...

. Stavka was also planning an even larger offensive, codenamed

to coincide with Konev's offensive. The objective of Operation Bagration was no less than the complete liberation of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, and also to force the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

out of eastern Poland. The Lvov–Sandomierz strategic offensive operation was to be the means of denying transfer of reserves by the

OKH The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

to Army Group Centre, thus earning itself the lesser supporting role in the summer of 1944.

Opposing forces

While the Stavka was concluding its offensive plans, Field Marshal Model was removed from command of the Army Group North Ukraine and replaced by Colonel general Josef Harpe. Harpe's force included two Panzer armies: the

1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army () was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group Kleist (''Panzergruppe ...

, under Colonel general

Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered to have been the premier defensive expert of the ''Wehrmacht''. His final command was Army Group Vistula, fo ...

and the

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (), operating as Panzer Group 4 () from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, was a German panzer formation during World War II. As a key armoured component of the Wehrmacht, the army took part in the crucial ...

under General Walther Nehring. Attached to the 1st Panzer Army was the Hungarian First Army. Harpe could muster only 420 tanks, StuG's and other assorted armoured vehicles. His army group comprised around 400,000 men and was supported by the 700 aircraft of

Luftflotte 4 ''Luftflotte'' 4For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 4) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on 18 March 1939, from Luftwaffenkomm ...

(including the veteran air units of 8th Air Corps) and the 300-400 aircraft of the nearby

Luftflotte 6 Luftflotte 6For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 6) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on May 5, 1943 from Luftwaffenkommando Ost ...

. However, due to the complicated inter-service chain of command, Harpe could not directly control the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

units. The 1st Ukrainian Front forces under Konev considerably outnumbered the Army Group North Ukraine. The 1st Ukrainian Front could muster over 1,002,200 troops, some 2,050 tanks, about 16,000 guns and mortars, and over 3,250 aircraft of the 2nd Air Army commanded by General Stepan Krasovsky. In addition the morale of Konev's troops was extremely high following the recent victories in Ukraine. They had been on the offensive for almost a year, and were witnessing the collapse of Army Group Centre to their North. The 1st Ukrainian Front attack was to have two axes of attack. The first, aiming towards

Rava-Ruska Rava-Ruska (, ; ; ) is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is a border town between Ukraine and Poland. The Rava-Ruska (border checkpoint), border checkpoint is situated west of the city, along the international autoroute Warsa ...

, was to be led by 3rd Guards, 1st Guards Tank and 13th Armies. The second pincer was aimed at Lvov itself, and was to be led by 60th, 38th, 3rd Guards Tank and 4th Tank Armies. The Red Army achieved massive superiority against the Germans by limiting their attacks to a front of only 26 kilometres. Konev had concentrated some 240 guns and mortars per kilometer of front.

The assault begins

The northern attack towards Rava-Ruska began on 13 July 1944. The 1st Ukrainian Front forces easily broke through near Horokhiv. The weakened Wehrmacht XLII Army Corps managed to withdraw relatively intact using reinforced rearguard detachments. By nightfall, the 1st Ukrainian Front's 13th Army had penetrated the German lines to a depth of 20 kilometers. The 1st Ukrainian Front's breakthrough occurred to the north of the XIII Army Corps. On 14 July 1944, the assault with the objective of liberating Lvov was begun to the south of the XIII Army Corps, which had positions near the town of

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

, an area of Red Army

failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

earlier in the war. Red Army units had punched through the line near Horokhiv to the north and at

Nyshche Nyshche () is a Village#Ukraine, selo (formerly a shtetl) on the Strypa River, upriver from the town of Zboriv in the historic region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Ukraine. It is situated in the Ternopil Raion of the Ternopil Oblast in ...

in the south, leaving the XIII Corps dangerously exposed in a salient. The northern pincer towards Rava-Ruska now began to split, turning several units of the 13th Army south in an attempt to encircle XIII Army Corps. RIAN archive 633180 Stream crossing

The northern forces soon encountered weak elements of the 291st and 340th Infantry Divisions, but these were quickly swept aside. On 15 July, Nehring, realising his 4th Panzer Army was in serious jeopardy, ordered his two reserve divisions, the 16th and 17th Panzer Divisions to counterattack near Horokhiv and in an attempt to halt the Soviet northern assault. The two divisions could muster only 43 tanks between them and despite their best efforts, the German counterattack soon bogged down. The massively superior Red Army forces soon forced the two Panzer divisions to join the retreating infantry divisions. Konev ordered Mobile Group Baranov into the breach to help exploit the breakthrough. The Mobile Group advanced quickly, under cover of air support, and over the next three days managed to capture the town of Kamionka Strumilowa and to seize and hold a bridgehead on the western bank of the

Western Bug The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .4th Panzer Armies was not repulsed on 14 July by the division-sized Korpsabteilung C. It was repulsed primarily by the 349th Infantry Division. The 1st Ukrainian Front shifted their attack further south, and after an immense artillery and air bombardment assaulted the depleted 349th and 357th Infantry Divisions. The 349th Infantry Division did not collapse under the assault, although it was hit very hard and the survivors temporarily fell back in disarray. Even a cursory glance at its War Diary demonstrates that this division continued to take part in offensive operations form 14 to 19 July. Korpsabteilung C initially played virtually no part in opposing the Soviet breakthrough. The 357th Infantry Division, 349th Infantry Division, the SS-Freiwillge Division 'Galizien' and the III. Panzer Korps, in particular the 8th Panzer Division, helped to contain the breakthrough and limit it to a gap wide. Only because of their massive overwhelming superiority in every respect was the 1st Ukrainian Front able to advance towards the towns of Zolochiv and Sasiv, driving a wedge between XIII Army Corps and the neighboring XLVIII Panzer Corps. German artillery from both Corps and the 18th Artillery Division tried but failed to saturate the narrow breakthrough area dubbed the Koltiv Corridor because it was too spread out on the high ground to be able to concentrate its fire to be effective. A hasty counterattack by the 1st Panzer Division and the

8th Panzer Division The 8th Panzer Division was a formation of the ''Wehrmacht'' German Army (Wehrmacht), ''Heer''. The division was formed by reorganising the 3rd Light Division (Wehrmacht), 3rd Light Division in October 1939. It was transferred to the west and fo ...

took place, accompanied by elements of the SS Division Galicia. While the infantry fought well, the 1st Panzer Division and the 8th Panzer Division were hit by a massive air assault. The 8th Panzer Division fared worse as its commander General Friebe disobeyed orders and moved his tanks on an open and exposed road. The German command responded to this unforgivable mistake by declaring that Friebe was "sick" and replacing him as the divisional commander. Despite initial gains, the 1st Ukrainian Front finally managed to halt the German attack, with the help of the 2nd Air Army, which dropped 17,200 bombs on the attacking German tanks. The absence of the 8th Panzer Division meant that the attack was doomed to fail. The commander of 8th Panzer Division had ignored his orders and tried to lead his force on a short cut. Instead, the division was strung out on the Zolochiv–

Zboriv Zboriv (, ; ; ; ) is a small List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the historical region of Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia. The local government is administered by Zboriv City Cou ...

section of the Lvov–

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

road, and suffered immense losses from Red Air Force

Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian language, Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a Ground attack aircraft, ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the World War II, Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (C ...

s. Despite this, the southern attack was slowing. On 16 July, Konev took a great risk and committed the 3rd Guards Tank Army (Lieutenant General Pavel Rybalko) to the southern assault. This meant that the Army would have to travel through the narrow Koltiv Corridor, constantly under artillery fire and fierce German counterattacks. The 3rd Guards Tank Army tilted the balance in the Lvov direction, and soon the Soviet advance resumed its course west. The commander of the XIII Army Corps realised that his Corps needed to retreat if it were to avoid encirclement. The order was given for all Corps units to fall back to the ''Prinz-Eugen-Stellung'', a series of unmanned defensive positions built in June 1944 which ran partly along the Strypa river about west of Ternopil. Strong 1st Ukrainian Front attacks throughout 17 July captured parts of the ''Prinz-Eugen-Stellung''. The 349th Infantry Division, the SS Division Galicia and the fusilier Battalion of Korpsabteilung C joined the combat to recapture these lost positions but after some success, failed, due to overwhelming Soviet superiority. XLVIII.Pz.Kps command still believed that its III. Panzer Korps could restore the German front and so the Corps commander, General Arthur Hauffe, did not order further withdrawal, condemning the three XIII Army Corps divisions and Korps-Abteilung C in the Brody salient to their fate. On 18 July, 1st Ukrainian Front attacks resulted in a breakthrough in the Lvov operational direction. Late in the day, the 1st Ukrainian Front spearheads met near the town of Busk. The encirclement was complete. 45,000 men of the XIII Army Corps were trapped around Brody, and a breach had been created along the Army Group North Ukraine's front.

Annihilation at Brody: objectives redefined

For the men trapped at Brody, help would not come. Despite several desperate attacks by the exhausted and under strength forces of XLVIII Panzer Corps and XXIV Panzer Corps, the 1st Ukrainian Front cordon continued to tighten. Under continued 1st Ukrainian Front attacks, Harpe ordered his forces to fall back, abandoning the trapped XIII Army Corps. Under constant artillery and aerial bombardment, the beleaguered forces made several breakout attempts, but these were easily repulsed by the 1st Ukrainian Front armoured forces and the Germans suffered heavy casualties. On 22 July, a 1st Ukrainian Front attack cut the pocket in two, and by nightfall almost all resistance had been eliminated. The scattered survivors broke up into small groups and attempted to break out. The German War Diaries evidence that approximately 15,000 men reached German lines including about 3,500 men of the SS Division Galicia. Before the operation, the division had numbered 11,000 men. Konev was elated at the unexpected success of the operation. Harpe's Army Group was falling back; the 4th Panzer Army to the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

River and the 1st Panzer Army along with 1st Hungarian Army to the area around the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

. Lvov itself was occupied again by the Soviets on 26 July, the first time being in September 1939. This time, the city was retaken by the 1st Ukrainian Front, a Soviet force, relatively easily. The Germans had been completely forced out from Western Ukraine. Seeing this success, Stavka issued new orders on 28 July. Konev was to attack across the Vistula and to capture the city of

, in Nazi-occupied southern

. Ukrainian hopes of independence were squashed amidst the overwhelming force of the Soviets, much like in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...

, UPA, would continue waging a guerrilla war against the Soviets well into the 1950s.

Renewed attack: capture of Sandomierz

The renewed Soviet offensive got underway on 29 July, with Konev's spearheads quickly reaching the Vistula and establishing a strong bridgehead near

Baranów Sandomierski Baranów Sandomierski is a small town in southern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodship, Tarnobrzeg County on the Vistula River, with 1,420 inhabitants as of December 2021. Baranów lies near the Vistula river, along ...

. However, strong German counterattacks near Sandomierz prevented further expansion of the Soviet bridgehead. In early August, Harpe gained some respite. Five divisions, including one Panzer division, were transferred from

Army Group South Ukraine Army Group South Ukraine (, ) was a joint German-Romanian group on the Eastern Front during World War II. Army Group South Ukraine was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group A. This army group saw action during the Jassy-Kishinev Operat ...

. These were immediately thrown into action around Sandomierz. Soon after, another five German divisions, three Hungarian divisions, six StuG brigades and the 501st Heavy Tank Battalion (equipped with

Tiger II The Tiger II was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of the World War II, Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B, often shortened to Tiger B.Jentz and Doyle 1993, p. 16. The ordnance inve ...

tanks) were placed under Harpe's command. Large-scale German counterattacks were launched in an attempt to throw the Soviets back across the Vistula. Using the towns of

Mielec Mielec () is the largest city and County seat, seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 was 59,509. ...

and

Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo podkarpackie'') since ...

on the eastern bank of the river as bases, these attacks caused heavy casualties to the Soviet forces. By mid-August, Konev's spearhead, the 6th Guards Tank Corps had only 67 tanks remaining. The Germans launched a fierce counterattack with the 501st Heavy Tank Battalion and the 16th Panzer Division, totaling around 140 tanks including 20 Tiger IIs. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the 6th Guards held the bridgehead, knocking out 10 Tiger IIs. By 16 August, the German counterattacks were beginning to lose steam, and Rybalko, the commander of the bridgehead, was able to expand the Soviet controlled area by a depth of 120 kilometers, capturing the city of Sandomierz. With both sides exhausted, the fighting died down and the Lvov–Sandomierz offensive was deemed complete.

Order of battle

Red Army

(Konev) ;Rava-Ruska operational direction * 3rd Guards Army ( Gordov) * 1st Guards Tank Army ( Katukov) * 13th Army ( Pukhov) ;Lvov operational direction * 60th Army ( Kurochkin) * 38th Army ( Moskalenko) *

3rd Guards Tank Army The 3rd Guards Tank Army () was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union and Poland, then in Germany and Czechoslovakia ...

( Rybalko) * 4th Tank Army ( Lelyushenko) * 2nd Air Army ( Krasovsky)

Axis

(''Generaloberst'' Josef Harpe) - 12 July 1944 * 18th Artillery Division *

(''General der Panzertruppen'' Walther Nehring) ** XLVI Panzer Corps *** 16th Panzer Division *** 17th Panzer Division *** 291st Infantry Division *** 340th Infantry Division *** + Group Beutler? ** XLII Army Corps (''General der Infanterie''

Hermann Recknagel __NOTOC__ Hermann Recknagel (18 July 1892 – 23 January 1945) was a German general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Recknagel was shot and killed by Polish parti ...

) *** 72nd Infantry Division *** 88th Infantry Division *** 214th Inf./Sec.? Division *** + 213th Security Division? **

LVI Panzer Corps LVI Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II. This corps was activated in February 1941 as the LVI Army Corps (mot.), for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on 22 June 1941. Erich von Manstein ...

(''General der Infanterie'' Johannes Block) *** 26th Infantry Division *** 342nd Infantry Division *** 1st Ski Jäger Division *** + 253rd Infantry Division? ** VIII Corps (''General der Infanterie'' Gustav Höhne) *** 5th Jäger Division *** 211th Infantry Division *** 12th Hungarian Reserve Division *

(''Generaloberst''

Erhard Raus Erhard Raus (8 January 1889 – 3 April 1956) was an Austrian general in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking army and ...

) ** XIII Army Corps (''General der Infanterie'' Arthur Hauffe) *** Korpsabteilung C - Generalmajor Wolfgang Lange (Div. Gruppe 183, 217 & 339) *** 361st Infantry Division *** 454th Security Division *** + 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian) (from Reserve) ** XLVIII Panzer Corps (''General der Panzertruppen'' Hermann Balck) *** 96th Infantry Division *** 349th Infantry Division *** 359th Infantry Division *** + 357th Infantry Division? ** III Panzer Corps (''General der Panzertruppe'' Hermann Breith) *** 1st Panzer Division ***

** XXIV Panzer Corps (''General der Panzertruppen'' Fritz-Hubert Gräser) *** 20th Panzergrenadier Division (from Reserve) *** 100th Jäger Division *** 75th Infantry Division *** 254th Infantry Division *** 371st Infantry Division ** LIX Army Corps (''General der Infanterie''

Edgar Röhricht __NOTOC__ Edgar Röhricht (16 June 1892 – 11 February 1967) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LIX. corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Röhricht was surrendered to the Allied troops in 194 ...

) *** 1st Infantry Division *** 208th Infantry Division *** 20th Hungarian Infantry Division * 1st Hungarian Army (Lieutenant General

Ferenc Farkas Ferenc Farkas (; 15 December 1905 – 10 October 2000) was a Hungary, Hungarian composer. Biography Born into a musical family (his father, Aladár Farkas, was an Olympian and soldier who played the cimbalom and his mother played the piano) i ...

- ''acting'') ** XI Army Corps (''General der Infanterie'' Rudolf von Bünau) *** 101st Jäger Division *** 24th Hungarian Infantry Division *** 25th Hungarian Infantry Division *** 18th Hungarian Reserve Division ** VIIth Hungarian Army Corps *** 16th Hungarian Infantry Division *** 68th Infantry Division *** 168th Infantry Division (elements) ** VIth Hungarian Army Corps *** 27th Hungarian Light Division *** 1st Hungarian Mountain Brigade ** Hungarian First Army Reserve *** 2nd Hungarian Panzer Division *** 2nd Hungarian Mountain Brigade (elements attached to VIth Corps) *** 19th Hungarian Reserve Division *

** VIII. Fliegerkorps **nearby

Casualty estimates

Wehrmacht reports stressed the successful withdrawal of several forces, in line with the Frieser estimate. Soviet estimates were considerably higher: according to an August 1944 report by the Soviet Information Bureau, German forces suffered 350,000 casualties. Of these, 140,000 were killed and 32,360 captured, primarily in the Brody pocket. Additionally, the Soviets claimed to have taken out 1,941 German tanks and 687 aircraft during the offensive.Наша Победа. День за днем – проект РИА Новости

Footnotes

References

* * Glantz, David M. & House, Jonathan. (1995), ''When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler'', Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, . * Hinze, Rolf. (2006) ''To the Bitter End: The Final Battles of Army Groups A, North Ukraine, Centre, Eastern Front 1944-45'' * * * * * Melnyk, Michael James. ''To Battle: The Formation and History of the 14 Galician Waffen-SS Division 1943-1945'', Helion and Co, (reprint 2007) * Dr Watt, Robert. "Feeling the Full Force of a Four Point Offensive: Re-Interpreting The Red Army's 1944 Belorussian and L'vov-

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

Operations". ''The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. . * Wagner, Ray (ed.), Fetzer, Leland, (trans.), ''The Soviet Air Force in World War II: the official history'', Wren Publishing, Melbourne, 1973 . * Zaloga, S. ''Bagration 1944: The Destruction of Army Group Centre'', Osprey Publishing, 1996, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive Battles of World War II involving Hungary Conflicts in 1944 1944 in Poland 1944 in Ukraine Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II Military operations of World War II involving Germany Tank battles involving Germany Tank battles involving the Soviet Union Battles and operations of World War II involving Hungary Lwów in World War II