Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is located at the confluence of the Desna and Dnieper rivers. The Dnieper River bends from north to south and flows into the Black Sea, forming a large S-shape with its upstream tributary, the Desna River. The planned goal of the Germans was to seize Kiev and encircle and annihilate Marshal Budyonny's Army Group in the South of the Soviet Union in a huge tongue-shaped area. This tongue-shaped region stretches from Tubitzivsk on the north bank of the Desna River in the north, to Klimenchog in the south at the Dnieper bend, and to Kiev in the west.

When the German army swept across Europe, Stalin saw that such a powerful Germany would inevitably threaten the national security of the Soviet Union, so he began to take a series of measures to prevent Germany: the planned relocation of Soviet heavy industry and military industry to the east of the Ural Mountains (Урал); to Germany and

talk, avoid irritating Germany; Japan stabilized the East and signed a neutrality treaty with Japan; Establish an "Eastern Front", increase strategic depth, and so on.

In the process of establishing the Eastern Front, the Soviet Union occupied about 600,000 square kilometers of land in accordance with the secret clauses of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact, quickly pushing Finland, Romania and other countries against itself, and also suffered universal condemnation from all countries in the world. In fact, the role of the Eastern Front in the war was extremely limited.

On the German side, the war on the Western Front went smoothly, and only Britain was desperately resisting with the advantage of the sea, which made Hitler feel that he had a chance to free up his hands to deal with the Soviet Union, a big country in the east, and the misjudgment of the Soviet Union by German intelligence agencies also made Hitler think that the Soviet Union was a very easy country to deal with.

After a series of battles in the border area and the defeat of the Dubno-Lutsk-Rivne tank engagement, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Red Army considered the southwest direction to be the main direction of the German offensive, so it deployed most of the forces of the Soviet Red Army in Ukraine, including the Southwestern Front (5th, 6th, 26th, 12th Army), Southern Front (18th, 9th Army) 6 army groups, 69 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry divisions and 28 armored brigades, commanded by the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Direction, Marshal of the Soviet Union Budyonny. The Southwestern Front of the Soviet Red Army, acting on the orders of the headquarters of the Supreme High Command, began to retreat from Western Ukraine on June 30, 1941. The task of the Front was to occupy by July 9, 1941 with field troops the fortified areas of Korostin, Volynsky City, Shepetovka, Stara Konstantinov, Proskurov, etc., which were built on the old border, and to organize a strong defense on this front. The German Army Group "South" scheduled to act in the Kiev direction (1st tank group, commander of which was Admiral Kleist; The purpose of the basic forces of the 6th and 17th armies, commanded by Colonels Reichenau and Sprager, respectively, was to break through the front of the Soviet Red Army on the front line of the old fortified area, advance to the Kiev area, and seize the landing ground on the Dnieper. Then the assault group turned to the southeast to attack in order to prevent the main forces of the Southwestern Front from retreating across the Dnieper and to destroy it by surprise from the rear.

The South-Western Front, with 44 divisions, which had also been severely weakened in battle, confronted the German 40 divisions (including 10 tank and motorized divisions). The German army had more than 1 times more infantry, artillery and mortars than the Soviet Red Army, and 50% more aircraft. On July 5, 1941, the German offensive began, and in the main assault direction, the Germans arrived before the Front had completed its retreat and had begun its front line in the fortified area. As early as July 7, 1941, the Germans, with tank corps as the first echelon, broke through the defenses of the Soviet Red Army north of Novomiropol and captured Berdichev in the evening. Next. A breakthrough was made to the south of Volynsky City, and on July 9, 1941, Zhytomyr was captured.

On July 11, 1941, the advance force of the 1st Tank Group advanced 110 kilometers in two days and nights to the Irpian River, 15-20 kilometers west of Kiev. Here, tanks and motorized infantry were blocked by the Soviet Red Army in the outer encirclement of the fortified area of Kiev. The attempt of the Germans to seize Kiev from the march was broken.

At this time, the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Red Army, General Zhukov, advised Stalin to abandon Kiev and withdraw the Southwestern Front to the other side of the Dnieper River to avoid being surrounded by the Germans, and then defend Moscow with all his might. But being categorically rejected by Stalin, Zhukov was relieved of the post of chief of the General Staff and appointed commander of the reserve front.

On July 16, 1941, Guderian's 2nd Panzer Corps of the German Army Group Center captured Smolensk and opened the door to Moscow. While Guderian and other German officers and soldiers were preparing to kill Moscow, Hitler decided to temporarily abandon the operation in the Moscow direction, and took Ukraine and Leningrad as the main targets, which he always considered to be of greater importance than Moscow. Despite repeated persuasions from his generals, he issued a major encirclement of Soviet troops near Kiev in cooperation with Army Group South. Since the start of the war against the Soviets, Rensted's Army Group South has not progressed as smoothly as Army Group Center, and although Kleist's 1st Panzer Corps has advanced all the way to the southeast with outstanding achievements, the 6th Army on the left flank has been blocked on the west bank of the Dnieper River in front of Kiev.

The two reinforcements of Army Group South and Army Group Center were tasked with the encirclement operation. Guderian's 2nd Panzer Corps crossed the Desna River west of Tubitzivsk and advanced south, straight into Romney in the rear of Kiev; The 2nd Army of Army Group Center moved south from Gomel to cover Guderian's right flank. Kleist's 1st Panzer Corps attacked north from Klimenchog on the Dnieper bend and joined Guderian near Romney; The 17th Army of Army Group South was responsible for pinning down the Soviets in the Dnieper bend north of Cherkassai while covering Kleist's left flank. At the same time, the 6th Army of Army Group South moved eastward, crossed the Dnieper and attacked Kiev.

The Germans' far-reaching frontal assault and subsequent flank assault split the Front into isolated groups. The 5th Army on the right flank of the front northwest of Kiev fought for about a month and a half in the fortified area of Koros, pinning down about 10 German divisions with its actions. The counter-assault of the army group on the flank of the German army group, which was directly attacking Kiev, greatly improved the situation of the Soviet Red Army defending the city. Following the instructions of the headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the army group retreated to the newly fortified area north of Kiev in late August 1941. The 6th and 12th armies and the 18th Army, with a total of 20 divisions, fought the left flank of the front southwest of Kiev.

On August 3, 1941, the Germans encircled the group in the Uman area with a two-flank assault. On August 8, 1941, the "Uman Pocket" was eliminated, and the Germans captured 103,000 Soviet Red Army, including Lieutenant General Muzychenko, commander of the 6th Army, and Major General Ponegerin, commander of the 12th Army, and the Germans captured 317 tanks and 858 artillery pieces. Combat operations continued here until August 13, 1941. The failure of these operations greatly complicated the situation at the junction of the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front (the 6th and 12th armies had been reassigned to the Southern Front since 25 July 1941 and became their right flank). In the center of the defense were the 37th and 26th armies (the former was formed on the basis of the fortified area of Kiev, and the latter was basically formed by the reserve corps operating south of Kiev).

From July 19 to 29, 1941, the 26th Army attempted a campaign to disrupt the encirclement maneuver of the 1st German tank group, but it was only held back for a few days before being forced to retreat under the German assault. German troops rushed to the suburbs of Kiev to Pirogov, Zhuliane, Meshelovka, Khoroyv Forest, as well as to the Forestry Engineering Institute and the Agricultural Academy. However, the counter-assault carried out by the Soviet Red Army made it possible to restore the front along the outer perimeter of the fortified area almost completely by 15 August 1941. Among the main counterattacks were the surprise attack of the 5th Airborne Brigade (led by Alexander Rodimtsev) stationed at the airport in Juliane on the Germans at night, which pushed back the German front by 2-3 km; and the newly formed 37th Army, which in the first half of August 1941 successfully repelled a powerful assault by a heavy German group from the southwest to capture the Ukrainian capital. Citizens of Kyiv and nearby residents took an active part in the defense of the city. By the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic and the Council of People's Commissars, the City Defense Command was formed. In a short time, 200,000 Kievans volunteered for the Soviet Red Army.

The stubborn resistance of the Soviet Red Army and repeated counter-assaults delayed the offensive on the left flank of Army Group "South" for a long time, forcing the German High Command to transfer a large part of Army Group "Center" from the direction of Moscow - the 2nd Army (commanded by General Weix) and the 2nd tank group (commanded by Colonel Guderian) to deal with the Southwestern Front. The German plan was for the 2nd Tank Cluster to cross the Desna River west of Tubitzivsk and advance southward to Romne, behind Kiev; The 2nd Army moved south from Gomel to cover the right flank of the 2nd tank group; The 1st Tank Group attacked north from Kremenchuk on the Dnieper Bend and joined the 2nd Tank Group in the area of Romne and Lokhvica, cutting off the Soviet Red Army on the west bank of the Dnieper River in the area of the Great River Meander; The 17th Army was responsible for pinning down the Soviet Red Army in the Dnieper bend north of Cherkasy, while covering the left flank of the 1st tank group; The 6th Army went east, crossed the Dnieper, entered Kiev, and began to encircle and annihilate this group of Soviet Red Army heavy troops. On July 21, 1941, the German high command ordered to intensify the offensive on the northern and southern flanks of the Soviet-German battlefield, and to make a far-reaching detour of the front along the east bank of the Dnieper River from the north and south.

On August 8, 1941, the German 2nd Tank Group and the 2nd Army began to develop an offensive in the direction of Starodob, Konotop, Gomel and Chernihiv. At this time, the Soviet Red Army saw through the German attempt, and on August 19, 1941, ordered the withdrawal of the armies of the Southwestern Front to the other side of the Dnieper River and organize a defense along the eastern bank. On the West Bank, the Soviet Red Army was supposed to hold only its positions in the Kiev region. In order to cover the right flank of the Front, the 40th Army, reorganized from corps withdrawn from other sectors, spread out along the Jesna River north of Konotop. The base camp instructed the Bryansk Front to prevent the Germans from breaking through from the north to the rear of the Southwestern Front. However, the front was unable to complete the tasks assigned to it and to stop the flank movement of the German troops. At the beginning of September 1941, the Germans reached the Jesna River and forced their way through the areas of Southka, Koropp, and Wibley. On September 10, 1941, the advance unit of the 2nd Tank Group captured the city of Romny (180 km from the Kremenchuk stronghold) in the rear of the South-Western Front.

On September 11, 1941, the commander-in-chief of the southwestern direction of the Soviet Red Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Marshal Budyonny, sensed the danger and asked Stalin to withdraw eastward, which was also rejected by Stalin, who ordered to hold Kiev (it turned out to be a rumor, Stalin was not stubborn, and explicitly demanded to hold Kiev at all costs, he only made a request for retreat, they had to maintain a defense along the Dnieper River and launch a counterattack against Guderian's armored forces in advance). And without the approval of the Supreme High Command, Kiev must not be abandoned, nor any bridges must be abandoned). On the 13th, Stalin considered Budyonny to be passive and avoided the war, dismissed him from his post and replaced him with Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko, commander-in-chief of the Western Direction and Western Front.

On the southern flank of the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Red Army, the Germans forcibly crossed the Dnieper River on the night of August 30, 1941, and seized a landing ground in the Kremenchuk area (later known as the Kremenchuk stronghold). The 38th Army, which operated there (transferred from the base camp reserve to the front), failed to clear the landing site. On September 12, 1941, the 1st Tank Group launched an attack from this landing site in the general direction of Lubne. The Soviet Red Army was in danger of being encircled at this time, and the commander of the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Red Army, General Kirponos, in order to preserve the vital strength of the Soviet Red Army, regardless of the danger of being sent to a military court, ordered the troops to retreat on all fronts, but this order was quickly revoked by the Supreme Command of the Soviet Red Army, and the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Red Army instead demanded that the Southwestern Front implement more active tactics and launch a counteroffensive against the German army. The Soviet Red Army missed the last opportunity. On September 16, 1941, as Yeremenko of the Bryansk Front failed to fulfill his promise to Stalin to "crush Guderian", Guderian and Kleist's panzer group met at Lokhvica, and the Southwestern Front was surrounded by German troops. As a result, the four armies of the Southwestern Front, namely the 21st (transferred from the Bryansk Front to the Southwestern Front on September 6, 1941), the 5th, 37th, and 26th armies, fell into a joint encirclement.

On September 16, 1941, the largest siege in the history of warfare began. Since September 16, the German army, mainly the 2nd Army and the 6th Army, has launched an encirclement and annihilation operation against the 5th, 21st, 38th, and 26th armies of the besieged Soviet Army. The Soviet troops trapped in the pocket-shaped position put up desperate resistance, and Stalin's stirring speech from the loudspeaker on the position spread throughout the battlefield. With no fuel and no ammunition, the Soviets launched a number of brave attacks against German tanks, artillery and machine guns with bayonets and entire battalions, in an attempt to break through the encirclement and retreat eastward. However, flesh and blood were finally outnumbered by steel, and the Soviets were killed and wounded by thousands of people under the shelling, strafing and crushing of German tanks, and their main forces were still under siege except for a few units that escaped. On September 20, 1941, the city of Kiev was captured by the German 6th Army. On the same day, the German 46th Panzer Corps arrived and entered the battle as a new force. At the same time, the Soviets also continued to invest new forces in an attempt to help the trapped Soviet troops break through, but they were all repulsed by the Germans.

The troops of the Southwestern Front were quickly divided and surrounded by the Germans and fell into disarray. On September 17, 1941, Stalin asked the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Red Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union Shaposhnikov, to order to agree to the breakthrough of the Southwestern Front, but it was too late. On September 19, 1941, Kiev fell, and the 37th Army was forced to move to the Yagotin region. The Southwestern Front continued to fight while encircled. Attempts to relieve it were inconclusive due to insufficient troops. From September 16 to 20, 1941, the Southwestern Front was divided into six defensive forces by the Germans: the 26th Army, stationed 20 to 30 kilometers north of the town of Zolotonosha, held out in the Orzhtsa area until September 24, 1941; The 37th and 26th armies, stationed 40 to 50 kilometers southeast of Kiev, held out until September 23, 1941; The 21st Army, stationed southeast of Periyakin, held out until September 23, 1941; The 5th Army, which was stationed in the eastern part of Pelyakin, held out until September 23, 1941; The 37th Army, stationed 10 to 15 kilometers northeast of Kiev, held out until September 21, 1941; The 37th Army, which was stationed in the Yagotin area, held out until September 26, 1941.

Only part of the army was able to divide into small groups and encircle, and a total of 20,000 officers and men were finally able to break through the German encirclement. On September 20, 1941, the commander of the Front, General Kirponos, the member of the Military Council, Burmystenko, and the chief of staff, Major General Tupikov, were killed in the breakout battle, and the commander of the 5th Army, Major General Potapov, was captured, and on September 26, 1941, the Southwestern Front was basically annihilated. On September 27, 1941, the Southwestern Front (40th, 21st, 38th, 6th Army), which was taken over by Marshal Timoshenko of the Soviet Union, was given the task of organizing a strong defense on the Belopoliye, Hisaki, and Krasnograd fronts. This battle was the largest encirclement and annihilation battle in the history of warfare.

German troops entered the city of Kiev on September 19, 1941.

On September 24, 1941, the Soviet Interior Guard blew up several buildings on Khleshyak Street, where some representatives of the Bureau of Occupation Territory Affairs were located. Explosions and fires continued over the next few days, and Kyiv citizens kept pouring water on their roofs to avoid the fires. No one went to extinguish the fire, which lasted four days and four nights.

Using these events as a pretext, the Germans began a brutal purge of the Jews in the city of Kiev. On September 28, 1941, 2,000 posters were posted in the city of Kiev asking local Jews to gather on September 29, 1941 at the intersection of Melnikov Street and Degtyalevskaya Street in order for the German army to carry out the "relocation plan". The next day, tens of thousands of people arrived at the designated place to concentrate. They were asked to walk from Melnikov Avenue to the Babiar Gorge, which was guarded by German troops on the outskirts of Kiev. As they approached the gorge, all men, women and children were asked to undress and fold their valuables, and then they were divided into teams.