On this day in 1943 the Soviet Red Army defeated the fascist invaders in the city that bore Comrade Stalin’s name, Stalingrad. The Soviet forces under the command of Marshal Gregory Zhukov encircled the German 6th army and captured the German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus. The battle was the bloodiest engagement of the Great Patriotic War and of the history of warfare. The casualties were around 1,129,619 for the Red Army and 647,300–868,374 for the Axis troops.
The German 24th Panzer Division moving towards Stalingrad. August, 1942. 
German soldiers at Stalingrad fire a 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun. 
Germans with an anti-aircraft gun on the banks of the river Volga. September, 1942. 
Soviet Troops defend the Red October factory. 
Women digging near damaged train tracks during the Battle of Stalingrad. 
Liberation of Stalingrad finally came in 1943. 
German prisoners huddle with soldiers from other Axis countries after the defeat of the German Army at Stalingrad. 
A Soviet soldier aids his injured comrade as others run past in the ruins of Stalingrad. 
A musician carrying a cello in a street in Stalingrad.
Родина-мать зовёт!
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Рабочие и Крестьяне!—Workers and Peasants! 