December 5 is the day of the beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow: the history of the memorable date

Every year on December 5, Russia celebrates one of the days of military glory — the Day of the beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow, which marked the first serious turning point during the Great Patriotic War. In 2025, it falls on a Friday. Izvestia tells about the history and significance of the memorable date.

The day of the beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow — history

The Battle for Moscow, which unfolded in the autumn of 1941 and the winter of 1942, became one of the key battles of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War. The German command, realizing the enormous political and strategic importance of the city, linked the outcome of the entire campaign against the Soviet Union with its capture.

The battles for the capital began on September 30, 1941. Inspired by easy victories in Western Europe, the leadership of the Third Reich considered the German army invincible. It was assumed that several weeks would be enough to defeat the USSR. The offensive operation was codenamed Typhoon.

Initially, the situation was really in favor of the invaders — in October, the Germans managed to encircle four armies of the Soviet Western and Reserve Fronts, the fighting was 80-100 km from Moscow. On October 15, the USSR State Defense Committee (GKO) issued a decree on the evacuation of the capital, and a state of siege was imposed on October 20. In November, German troops approached the city almost closely.

As Mikhail Myagkov, the scientific director of the RVIO, noted in an interview with Izvestia, the total losses of the Red Army in October 1941 reached 500 thousand people. A huge gap had formed in the defenses of Moscow, and German troops could almost reach the city without hindrance.

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"However, the German command did not take into account the most important thing — that our soldiers, Red Army soldiers, our commanders will fight to the last drop of blood. It did not take into account the strength of the resistance of our troops," the expert shared.

At the end of November, the situation in the Moscow direction began to change, and on December 5, Soviet troops launched a full-scale counteroffensive. In the very first days, the defenders of the capital drove back the invaders by more than 100 km, liberating the Moscow, Tula and Ryazan regions, as well as parts of the Kalinin, Smolensk and Oryol regions. Germany's losses in December 1941 amounted to about 1 million people, and the enemy was forced to go on the defensive. The concept of blitzkrieg, on which the Wehrmacht relied so much, has failed.

"The war entered a protracted stage, for which the Third Reich was not ready. And the Soviet soldiers and commanders felt confident in their abilities," Myagkov explained.

The Soviet offensive operation lasted until April 20, 1942. As a result, Germany suffered its first major defeat since the beginning of World War II.

The reasons for the defeat of German troops near Moscow

According to Dmitry Surzhik, Candidate of Historical Sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the main reasons for the failure of the Wehrmacht near Moscow were the underestimation of the military power of the USSR, the steadfastness of Soviet fighters and the decline in the morale of the German army after the collapse of the Blitzkrieg.

"The German command was feeling a little dizzy from the boilers they had managed to create at the beginning of the war, and therefore believed that the Red Army was either finished or almost finished and Moscow would fall in the near future," the expert told Izvestia.

According to the historian, by December 1941, the Third Reich had exhausted its offensive potential, while the Soviet Union was rapidly building up its power, bringing fresh reserves to Moscow. At the same time, the German leadership underestimated the enemy, believing that the USSR would not be able to restore the front. This was largely facilitated by the work of Soviet counterintelligence, which misled the enemy.

The morale of the German army was also undermined by the prolonged fighting. There are such entries in the diaries of that time: "Moscow is not far away, but still it seems to me that we are infinitely far from it. We've been stuck in one place for over a month now. How many of our soldiers have died during this time. <...> Today we are walking over the corpses of those who fell in front. Tomorrow we will become corpses and we will also be crushed by guns and tracks."

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At the same time, Surzhik noted, the Soviet troops demonstrated unprecedented resilience and the will to win. And not only at the level of ordinary fighters, but also at the level of generals.

The historian recalled one telling episode. In October 1941, the commander of the long-range aviation, Alexander Golovanov, overheard a conversation between Joseph Stalin and the commander of the Western Front, who asked to move the front headquarters from Perkhushkovo (Moscow region) away from the capital. After listening to the request, the Soviet leader asked: "How many shovels do you have?" When he received the answer, he calmly said, "Take shovels and dig your graves. I am staying in Moscow, the headquarters remains in Perkhushkovo."

At the same time, the expert stressed that weather conditions did not play a decisive role in the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow.

"There is a widespread myth, which was replicated after the war by both German generals and, later, by American researchers, that the success near Moscow was achieved thanks to General Moroz. However, in reality, the success near Moscow was caused by the colossal resistance of the Red Army, the self—denial of Soviet people at the front, at all levels of command and in the rear," said Surzhik.

Myagkov shares a similar opinion. According to him, the temperature in December 1941 corresponded to the climatic norm, and sometimes it was even higher.

The significance of the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow

The victory in the Battle of Moscow had a huge impact on the course of the entire Second World War. It was of great importance for raising morale in the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition and in the occupied territories. Germany's international prestige was seriously undermined, and the prestige of the USSR grew significantly. From that moment on, the initiative on the battlefield began to shift to the side of the Red Army.

The successful counteroffensive also dampened Japan's desire to enter the war against the Soviet Union and had a sobering effect on the Turkish leadership. Although Turkey did not plan an attack, it remained a non-belligerent ally of Germany, supplying strategic materials to the Reich and ensuring the passage of military cargo through the Black Sea Straits, bypassing the Montreux Convention.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the history and traditions of the Day of the Unknown Soldier.