On December 3, an envelope with a commemorative stamp dedicated to the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Moscow was put into postal circulation in the On the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945 series

On December 5, 1941, a counteroffensive operation of the Soviet Army began at the approaches to Moscow. It was on that day that the active phase of the offensive started along a wide front from Kalinin in the north to Yelets in the south, resulting in the first but not the last defeat of the Nazi troops that forced them to begin the retreat. It consisted of two phases: the counter-attack from December 5, 1941, to January 7, 1942, and the general offensive of the Soviet Army from January 8 to April 20, 1942. The idea of the operation was to simultaneously defeat the way of the Soviet Army through the most dangerous strike groups of Army Grouping Center that threatened Moscow from the north and south, and then to defeat the entire Army Grouping Center in the course of the ongoing counteroffensive. From the very beginning, fighting took a fierce character; the Soviet army overcame the resistance of Nazi troops and defeated them. In the battle at the approaches to Moscow, the Nazi Army lost about half a million soldiers and officers, at least 1,250 tanks, 2,500 guns and military vehicles.

The Soviet counter-offensive at the approaches to Moscow resulted in a landmark event: for the first time in World War II, the "invincible" Nazi armada was stopped, the German troops were thrown away from the Soviet capital by 100-250 km, and a general offensive of the Red Army along the entire Soviet-German front began. This was the inflection point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. On December 5, our country celebrates the Day of Military Glory of Russia.

The envelope with a commemorative stamp provides an emblem of the celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945; the main image features servicemen of the Soviet Army during an attack on the enemy and the map of the counteroffensive.

In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka will produce a special cancel for Moscow.

Photo: O. Knorring/TASS.
Design Artist: S. Kapranov; emblem author: A. Moskovets.
Quantity: 1 million envelopes.

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