KAMIN-KASHYRSKYI OFFENSIVE OF 1943

Kaˈmin-Kaˈshyrskyi Ofˈfensive of 1943

Battles between the partisans of the A. V. Suvorov, V. I. Chapaev detachments of the V. M. Molotov Partisan Brigade against German Nazi invaders at the Kamin-Kashyrsk (now, Kamin-Kashirskyi) railway station, Volyn Oblast (Ukraine), on July 22, 1943, and at the Janaw-Palieski station, Ivanava Rajon, on July 23, 1943, during the Great Patriotic War. The offensive was controlled by M. I. Gerasimov, who was the commander of the V. M. Molotov Partisan Brigade.

The partisans were tasked with neutralising the enemy garrison at the Kamin-Kashyrsk railway station on the Kovel — Janaw-Palieski railway, that was parallel to the front, and stalling the advance of the enemy echelons in this railway section.

The A. V. Suvorov Partisan Detachment (70 combat soldiers, commander was A. S. Kuzichkin) stole a 55‑kilometre distance and reached the starting line 2 km from the station. Two groups (10 people each) blocked the roads in Ratna urban settlement and Kovel city with ambushes. The assault was struck suddenly on the night of July 22. The enemy, despite a significant advantage, panicked and took refuge in concrete bunkers without resistance. Partisans blocked bunkers, destroyed station buildings, warehouses with railway property, 8 combine harvesters, and left without loss.

The plan of the operation was the attack in the Janaw-Palieski station (on the Pinsk — Brest line) which was conducted by the V. I. Chapaev Partisan Detachment (commander was I. S. Zajkow) a few hours after the battle at the Kamin-Kashyrsk station on July 23. Partisans burned a depot with three locomotives and a fuel tank. As a result of this offensive, the railway section from the Kamin-Kashyrsk station to the Janaw-Palieski station was permanently disabled.