The term 'hero city' originated in Soviet publications during World War II, with significant cities like Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Odessa receiving this title for their resilience. The document details the brutal sieges and battles faced by these cities, highlighting the massive human cost and destruction they endured, particularly the extensive suffering in places like Leningrad and the heroic defense of Brest. Key events include the battles of Stalingrad and Kerch, which were pivotal in the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany.

2. The usage of the term "hero city" is dated to articles in Pravda (a
Russian political newspaper associated with the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation) as early as in 1942. The first official usage of the
title is dated by May 1, 1945, when Joseph Stalin issued his Supreme
Commander Order 20 commanding to fire salutes in "hero
cities Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol, and Odessa."

3. The fortress in Brest, Belarus was awarded the title Hero Fortress in 1965. It was located right on
the recently established border between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. As such, the
fortress had little warning when the Axis invaded on 22 June 1941, and became the site of the
first major fighting between Soviet frontier guards and the invading German forces of Army
Group Centre. German artillery heavily shelled the fortress; the subsequent attempt to quickly
take it with infantry failed, however, and the Germans started a lengthy siege. The Brest
garrison, although cut off from the outside world and having run out of food, water and
ammunition, fought and counter-attacked until the very last minute. After the Germans had
taken most of the ruined fortifications, taking heavy casualties, bloody fighting continued
underground. The fighting ended only in late July. Even after the fortress was officially taken, the
few surviving defenders continued to hide in the basements and to harass the Germans for
several months.

4. On the Eastern Front of World War the Second from 1941
to 1945, Kerch was the site of heavy fighting
between Soviet Army and Axis forces. After fierce
fighting, the city was taken by the Germans in November
1941. On 30 December 1941 the Soviets recaptured the
city in a naval landing operation. In 1942 the Germans
occupied the city again. The Red Army lost over 160,000
men at the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. On 31 October
1943 another Soviet naval landing operation was
launched. Kerch returned to Soviet control on 11 April
1944.
The German invaders killed about 15,000 citizens and
deported another 14,000 during their occupation.

5. In World War the Second, the city suffered
significant damage, and was occupied by Nazi
Germany from 19 September 1941 to 6 November
1943. More than 600,000 Soviet soldiers were
killed or captured in the great encirclement Battle
of Kiev in 1941. Most of them never returned alive.
Shortly after the city was occupied, a team
of NKVD officers that had remained hidden
dynamited most of the buildings on the
Khreshchatyk, the main street of the city, most of
whose buildings were being used by German
military and civil authorities; the buildings burned
for days and 25,000 people were left homeless.
Allegedly in response to the actions of the NKVD,
the Germans rounded up all the local Jews they
could find, nearly 34,000,[ and massacred them
at Babi Yarover the course of 29–30 September
1941

6. Before World War II, Minsk had had a population of 300,000 people. After Germany invaded the
Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, as part of Operation Barbarossa, Minsk immediately came under
attack. The city was bombed on the first day of the invasion and came under Wehrmacht control
four days later. However, some factories, museums and tens of thousands of civilians had been
evacuated to the east. Communists and sympathisers were killed or imprisoned; both locally and
after being transported to Germany. Homes were requisitioned to house invading German
forces. By 1942, Minsk had become a major centre of the Soviet partisan resistance
movement against the invasion, in what is known as the German-Soviet War. For this role, Minsk
was awarded the title Hero City in 1974.
Minsk was, however, the site of one of the largest Nazi-run ghettos in World War II.
•Minsk was recaptured by Soviet troops on 3 July 1944, during Operation Bagration.
Children during the German bombing of Minsk
June 24, 1941
German troops
marching through
Minsk.

7. During World War the Second (the period from 22 June 1941, to 9 May 1945), after the German
invasion of the USSR, the Soviet State Defense Committee and the General Staff of the Red
Army was located in Moscow.
In 1941, sixteen divisions of the national volunteers (more than 160,000 people), twenty-five
battalions (18,500 people) and four engineering regiments were formed among the Muscovites.
That November, the German Army Group Center was stopped at the outskirts of the city and
then driven off in the Battle of Moscow. Many factories were evacuated, together with most of
the government, and from 20 October the city was declared to be under siege. Its remaining
inhabitants built and supervised antitank defenses, while the city was subjected to air bombing.

8. During World War the Second, Murmansk was
a link to the Western world for Russia, with
large quantities of goods important to the
respective military efforts traded with
the Allies: primarily manufactured goods and
raw materials into the Soviet Union. The
supplies were brought to the city in the Arctic
convoys.
German forces in Finnish territory launched an
offensive against the city in 1941 as part of
Operation Silver Fox, and Murmansk suffered
extensive destruction, the magnitude of which
was rivaled only by the destruction
of Leningrad and Stalingrad. However, fierce
Soviet resistance and harsh local weather
conditions prevented the Germans from
capturing the city and cutting off the vital
Karelian railway line and the ice-free harbor.

9. Most of the town was occupied by the German Army on September 10, 1942. A small unit of
Soviet sailors defended one part of the town, known as Malaya Zemlya, for 225 days beginning
on February 4, 1943, and the town was liberated by the Red Army on September 16, 1943. The
heroic defense of the port by the sailors allowed the Soviets to retain possession of the city's
bay, which prevented the Germans from using the port for supply shipments. Novorossiysk was
awarded the title Hero City in 1973.

10. Following the Siege of Odessa, and the Axis occupation, approximately 25,000 Odessans were
murdered in the outskirts of the city and over 35,000 deported; this came to be known as
the Odessa Massacre. Most of the atrocities were committed during the first six months of the
occupation which officially began on 17 October 1941, when 80% of the 210,000 Jews in the
region were killed. The city suffered severe damage and sustained many casualties over the
course of the war. Many parts of Odessa were damaged during both its siege and recapture on
10 April 1944, when the city was finally liberated by the Red Army.

11. During World War II, German forces besieged Leningrad following the Axis invasion of the Soviet
Union in June 1941. The siege lasted 872 days, from September 1941 to January 1944.The Siege
of Leningrad proved one of the longest, most destructive, and most lethal sieges of a major city
in modern history. It isolated the city from most supplies except those provided through
the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga. More than one million civilians died, mainly from
starvation. Many others were eventually evacuated or escaped, so the city became largely
depopulated.

12. During World War the Second,
Sevastopol withstood intensive
bombardment by the Germans in
1941–42. German forces were forced
to use railway
artillery and specialised heavy
mortars to destroy Sevastopol's
extremely heavy fortifications, such
as the Maxim Gorky naval battery.
After fierce fighting, which lasted for
250 days, the supposedly
untakable fortress city finally fell to
Axis forces in July 1942. It was
liberated by the Red Army on May 9,
1944 and was awarded the Hero
City title a year later.

13. During World War the Second, Smolensk once again saw wide-scale fighting during the
first Battle of Smolensk when the city was captured by the Germans on July 16, 1941. The first
Soviet counteroffensive against the German army was launched in August 1941 but failed.
However, the limited Soviet victories outside the city halted the German advance for a crucial
two months, granting time to Moscow's defenders to prepare in earnest. Over 93% of the city
was destroyed during the fighting; the ancient icon of Our Lady of Smolensk was lost.
Nevertheless, it escaped total destruction. The city was finally liberated on September 25, 1943.
The rare title of Hero City was bestowed on Smolensk after the war.

14. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–
1945, the city was important in the
production of armaments. Tula became
the target of a German offensive to
break Soviet resistance in the Moscow
area between October 24 and
December 5, 1941. The heavily fortified
city held out, however,
and Guderian's Second Panzer Army
was stopped near Tula. The city secured
the southern flank during the Battle of
Moscow and the subsequent counter-
offensive. Tula was awarded the
title Hero Cit in 1976.

15. It was attacked by Germany and Axis forces during World War II. In 1942, the city became the
site of one of the pivotal battles of the war. The Battle of Stalingrad had perhaps the greatest
casualty figures of any single battle in the history of warfare. The battle began on August 23,
1942, and on the same day, the city suffered heavy aerial bombardment that reduced most of it
to rubble. By September, the fighting reached the city center. The fighting was of unprecedented
intensity; the central railway station of the city changed hands thirteen times, and the Mamayev
Kurgan (one of the highest points of the city) was captured and recaptured eight times.

16. By early November, the German forces controlled 90 percent of the city and had cornered
the Soviets into two narrow pockets, but they were unable to eliminate the last pockets of
Soviet resistance in time. On November 19, Soviet forces launched a huge counterattack.
On January 31, 1943 the Sixth Army's commander, Field Marshal Fridrich Paulus
surrendered, and by February 2, with the elimination of straggling German troops, the
Battle of Stalingrad was over.