Siege of Odesa 1941

Overview

The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Siege of Odesa ran from 8 August to 16 October 1941, during the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa. Romanian forces numbering approximately 160,000 besieged a Soviet garrison of around 34,500 defenders. The disparity in force size was reflected in the casualty figures: Romanian losses reached 92,545 against an estimated 60,000 Soviet casualties, indicating that the defenders imposed severe attrition on a force more than four times their size. The siege tied down substantial Romanian manpower on the Black Sea coast during a period when Axis forces were driving deep into Soviet territory elsewhere on the Eastern Front. The prolonged resistance at Odesa demonstrated the capacity of a heavily outnumbered garrison to delay and attrite a larger besieging army, a pattern that would recur at other defended Soviet cities during the war.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (9)