80 years of the liberation of Vienna

Exactly 80 years ago, on 13 April 1945, the Red Army liberated Vienna from the troops of the Nazi Germany.

The Vienna Offensive Operation was carried out from 16 March to 15 April 1945 by the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in Western Hungary and Eastern Austria. The battle on the immediate outskirts of Vienna began on 5 April, and the Red Army was fighting for every house. The troops led by Fyodor Tolbukhin, Marshal of the Soviet Union, made a breakthrough to the Austrian capital from the south.

The battle was of a fierce and intense nature. On 13 April, the Red Army forces took control of 137 city blocks in Eastern part of Vienna, as well as the bridge over the Danube and the northern and northwestern train stations. By 2 p.m. the enemy was completely knocked out of the city, and the fighting on its territory was over.

During the battle for Vienna, the Red Army demonstrated bravery and courage that is reflected in numerous archival documents. On 23 May 1945, the State Defense Committee of the USSR adopted a decree to supply food to the population of Vienna. The city authorities were provided with hundreds of tonnes of grain, sugar, salt and other products. Its population expressed sincere gratitude to the Soviet people.

Nowadays it is important that Europe should not forget our common history and the role that the USSR played in defeating fascism. It is our sacred duty to respect the memory and to pay tribute to the heroes who sacrificed their lives for peace and freedom of modern generations.