Whew. At some point, one would think Voroshilov would stop reading the incoming reports from the Ukrainian and Belorussian Fronts regarding out-of-control Red Army troops committing grievous crimes “against the backdrop of the excellent political and moral state of the units.” This time, a Top Secret report from the Office of the Chief Military ProsecutorContinueContinue reading “1939: Robbery, Murder, and Rape – More Bad News for Voroshilov, Downplayed as “Negative Incidents””
Tag Archives: war
1939: Infantry Deserters a Problem for the Red Army After Invading Poland
When it rains, it pours for Marshall of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov. Having done little to quell insubordination and a lack of military discipline and morale in the ranks, as the year 1939 draws to a close, he is facing the very real and growing issue of desertion. As we’ll see in the followingContinueContinue reading “1939: Infantry Deserters a Problem for the Red Army After Invading Poland”
1939: Voroshilov Excuses Soviet War Crimes Against Polish Civilians as a Misunderstanding
One runs out of words when trying to explain the thought process of a decorated Marshal of the Soviet Union dismissing the unlawful summary execution of at least nine Polish civilians as a “mistake and a misunderstanding” that took place against the backdrop of “combat operations and acute class struggle.” Another slap on the wrist,ContinueContinue reading “1939: Voroshilov Excuses Soviet War Crimes Against Polish Civilians as a Misunderstanding”
1939: Stalin’s Biggest Enemy During the Soviet Invasion of Poland Was the Red Army Itself
We can thank Carl von Clausewitz for the concept of the fog of war. But leave it to the Red Army to provide us with shining examples of the fog of logistics, which may have come close to derailing what otherwise should have been a walk-in-the-park invasion of Poland in 1939. Toss in a subsequentContinueContinue reading “1939: Stalin’s Biggest Enemy During the Soviet Invasion of Poland Was the Red Army Itself”
1939: Logistics and Carelessness Abound While Nazis and Red Army Collaborate to Slice Poland in Half
We’ve stumbled onto an unknown (to us) cache of thousands of classified documents held in the archives of the Lieutenant General Kazimierz Sosnkowski Military Historical Office dealing primarily with the challenges faced by Poland brought on by the USSR (invasion, annexation, authoritarian rule, oppression, etc.) from at least 1939 to 1955. It’s a fascinating collection,ContinueContinue reading “1939: Logistics and Carelessness Abound While Nazis and Red Army Collaborate to Slice Poland in Half”
1943: Prince Nikolay Gagarin Returns Home from Fighting for the Nazis
The following translation is taken from a rather lengthy interrogation of Prince Nikolay Mikhaylovich Gagarin, a former Wehrmacht officer and commander of the 3rd squadron of the 600th Cossack division, who went over to the Smolensk partisans on June 9, 1943. The uniqueness of the document is that, to date, it is the only knownContinueContinue reading “1943: Prince Nikolay Gagarin Returns Home from Fighting for the Nazis”
Russian FSB Using Declassified Materials and Emotion-Packed Rhetoric to Create Rift Between Ukraine, Poland
On 5 July 2026, the Ukrainian news agency Ukrainska Pravda [Ukrainian Truth] published an article blasting the Russian government’s Federal Security Service (FSB) for spreading faked “declassified” documents in a massive campaign to undermine the growing strategic partnership between and Poland. This is certainly not the first time such claims have been made. Russia’s ForeignContinueContinue reading “Russian FSB Using Declassified Materials and Emotion-Packed Rhetoric to Create Rift Between Ukraine, Poland”
December 1942: Admiral Isakov’s Life-Saving Amputation Nearly Kills Him After Luftwaffe Attack
Much has been written across the years about the much-decorated Chief of the Naval Staff, Ivan Stepanovich Isakov. Almost all of the biographies, papers, and mere anecdotes dedicated to the Hero of the Soviet Union’s World War Two exploits make glancing, even joking, references to the fact that Isakov had a leg amputated after heContinueContinue reading “December 1942: Admiral Isakov’s Life-Saving Amputation Nearly Kills Him After Luftwaffe Attack”
1942: Roosevelt Willing to Sacrifice 120,000 Troops in “Second Dunkirk” to Help Soviets, Churchill Outraged
In 1942, the situation for the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany took a dramatic turn for the worse. Soviet troops suffered defeats in Crimea and near Kharkov. German forces began a rapid advance westward, moving toward the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus region. Given the situation, the USSR beganContinueContinue reading “1942: Roosevelt Willing to Sacrifice 120,000 Troops in “Second Dunkirk” to Help Soviets, Churchill Outraged”
1944 Romania Switches Alliances in WW2: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
In late August 1944, World War II was clearly coming to a swift close for Romania. Having sided with Nazi Germany under the government of Ion Antonescu, Romania observed the Red Army’s August 1944 Jassy-Kishinev offensive crush the Axis front in northeastern Romania. With no realistic chance of survival, the Romanian Army declared a unilateralContinueContinue reading “1944 Romania Switches Alliances in WW2: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire”
