Kerch Peninsula Kharkov summer offensive oil fields of the Caucasus Kuban steppe central southern Russia oil fields German Russia
In May, the Germans defeated Soviet offensives in the Kerch Peninsula and at Kharkov, and then launched their main summer offensive against southern Russia in June 1942, to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus and occupy the Kuban steppe, while maintaining positions on the northern and central areas of the front.