Atlas of Battles

battle, major, interwar and Second World War

First Battle of Kharkov

First Battle of Kharkov was a battle fought on 20 October 1941 at Kharkiv, in what is now Ukraine; it lasted 4 days. It was part of the Eastern Front, which ran from 1941 to 1955. The recorded result: German victory. Recorded strength: Two divisions; 1 Sturmgeschütz battalion; 10,000–30,000 men (est.); 12 StuG III against One division.

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For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Zentralbild II. Weltkrieg 1939-1945 Am
For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Zentralbild II. Weltkrieg 1939-1945 Am . Schmidt, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought20 October 1941lasted 4 days
WhereKharkiv, Ukraine49.990N, 36.220E
OutcomeGerman victory
BelligerentsNazi GermanyagainstSoviet Union
Casualties and lossesUnknownand96,509 casualties
Part ofEastern Front1941 to 1955

Where it sits in the Eastern Front

Baltic Sea campaigns, 1939Battle of Moscow, 1941Battle of Kiev, 1941Battle of Smolensk, 1941Summer War, 1941Defense of Brest Fortress, 1941Battle of Lwów, 1941Battle of Rossieny, 1941Action of 26 June 1941, 1941Defense of Borisov, 1941Solovyovo crossing, 1941Siege of Mahilow, 1941Battle of Lepel, 1941Baltic Operation, 1941Action of 9 July 1941, 1941Siege of Odesa 1941, 1941Siege of Leningrad, 1941Battle of the Sea of Azov, 1941Battle of Petrikowka, 1941Battle of Bryansk, 1941Battle of Mtsensk, 1941Battle at Borodino Field, 1941First Battle of Kharkov, 1941Capture of Gorlovka, 1941Action of 6 December 1941, 1941Battle of Jibrieni, 1941Kerch-Feodosia Landing Operation, 1941Tatsinskaya Raid, 1942Operation Wirbelwind, 1942Battle of Lyuban, 1942Battles of Rzhev, 1942Lake Ilmen action, 1942Kholm Pocket, 1942Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive, 1942Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, 1942Second Battle of Kharkov, 1942Demyansk Pocket, 1942Battle of Kalach, 1942Attack of the U-209 on the convoy near Matveyev Island, 1942Battle of Stalingrad, 1942Attack on Stalingrad, 1942Battle of Cape Burnas, 1942Battle of Sukho Island, 1942Defense of the Adzhimushkay quarry, 1942Battle of Kursk, 1943Battle of Kiev, 1943Battle of Lenino, 1943North-Caucasian offensive operation, 1943Aul Bridgehead, 1943Operation Spark, 1943Voronezh–Kastornoye Offensive, 1943Third Battle of Kharkov, 1943Battle of Sokolovo, 1943Battle of Prokhorovka, 1943Donbass Strategic Offensive, 1943Battle of Belgorod, 1943Battle of the Dnieper, 1943Bukrin Bridgehead, 1943Battle of the Caucasus, 1943Battle of Nevel, 1943Battle for Narva, 1944Battle of Romania, 1944Battle of Studzianki, 1944Battle of Auvere, 1944Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket, 1944Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive, 1944Battle for Narva Bridgehead, 1944Battle of Rivne, 1944Narva Offensive February 1944, 1944Battle of Kovel, 1944Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka offensive, 1944March 1944 Narva Offensive, 1944Narva Offensive, 1944Odesa offensive, 1944Ol′shanskiy amphibious landing, 1944Crimean Offensive, 1944First Battle of Târgu Frumos, 1944Battle of Gurby, 1944Landing of Turkestan legionnaires near Guryev, 1944Battle of Nerva Island, 1944Šiauliai Offensive, 1944Belostock Offensive, 1944Battle of Brody, 1944Battle of Tannenberg Line, 1944Battle of Radzymin, 1944Battle of the Dukla Pass, 1944Moonsund Landing Operation, 1944Battle of Memel, 1944Amphibious Operation at Liinahamari, 1944Battle of Leszczawa Górna, 1944Battle of Debrecen, 1944Battle of Bautzen, 1945Battle of Kolberg, 1945Siege of Danzig, 1945Battle of Bydgoszcz, 1945Liberation of Warsaw, 1945Siege of Breslau, 1945Heiligenbeil Pocket, 1945Battle of Kosmach, 1945East Pomeranian Offensive, 1945Battle of Zhovkva, 1945Battle of the Oder–Neisse, 1945Battle of Berlin, 1945Battle of the Seelow Heights, 1945Battle in Berlin, 1945Battle of Radekhiv, 1945Storming of the Reichstag, 1945Attack on Variazh, 1945Attack on Werbkowice Railway Station, 1946Attack on Hrubieszów, 1946Battle of Sushky, 1955Battle of the Bozhykiv Forest, 196019391960First Battle of Kharkov, 1941
120 placed engagements of the Eastern Front in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date20 October 1941
to 24 October 1941
PlaceKharkiv, Ukraine
49.990N, 36.220E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
StrengthTwo divisions; 1 Sturmgeschütz battalion; 10,000–30,000 men (est.); 12 StuG IIIOne division
Casualties and lossesUnknown96,509 casualties
Commanders
  • Erwin Vierow
  • Anton Dostler
  • Viktor Tsyganov
First Battle of KharkovFirst Battle of KharkovKharkiv OperationThird Battle of KharkovSecond Battle of KharkovBattle of ProkhorovkaBattle of PoltavaThird Battle of KharkovSecond Battle of KharkovBattle of ProkhorovkaBattle of PoltavaBelgorodSumyLysychanskKupyanskAlekseyevkaValuykiShebekino100 km49.990N, 36.220E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of First Battle of Kharkov
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of First Battle of Kharkov today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-08-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 108 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 180 m, 180 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 67% built-up, 30% tree cover.

built-up: 67%tree cover: 30%built-up 67%tree cover 30%
west to east, 10.0 km101 to 173 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 116 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1941

First Battle of Kharkov is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 301 in present-day Ukraine.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q697658, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article First Battle of Kharkov, revision 1370618720, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.