Soviet Ice Warrior

摘要

November 25, 1943 went down as a black day for the Soviet forces entrusted with the defence of Murmansk. Situated within the wastelands of the Kola Peninsula, the port was nearly 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Inhospitable and forbidding as the area was, Murmansk gave access to the Barents Sea and from there to the North Atlantic; it was a vital strategic objective for the Germans and a symbol of Soviet defiance. On that day, the front line was just 25 miles away to the west, along the Titovka river valley. At dawn on the 25th, the weather was poor and the first Soviet air raid was destined to strike targets along the front. In the Arctic winter, nights were long and the first vestiges of light did not appear until nearly 10am, Moscow lime.