From Stalingrad to Rostov: the offensive of the 2nd guards army (January - February 1943)

The paper considers the insufficiently studied events of late December 1942 - early 1943 - the fighting of the Red Army units, which, after encircling enemy troops near Stalingrad, conducted an offensive in the Rostov direction. The author used documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, some of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Along with historical sources, historiographical sources were used - materials of international conferences, collections of scientific papers, field materials, that allow for a deeper and more complete study of events related to the advance of the 2nd Guards Army, its capture of the Manych lines and further advance towards Rostov-on-Don. Attempts have been made to determine the role and place of the battles of the 2nd Guards Army in deterring the Wehrmacht troops counterattacking in the Rostov direction, and to identify the significance of the fighting in the Bataisk area on the scale of the events of the entire Red Army offensive.