What is the code name for the German offensive that started this Second World War engagement on the Eastern Front (a few hundred kilometers from Moscow) between Soviet and German forces, which included 102nd Infantry Division?
Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk (450 km south-west of Moscow) in the Soviet Union during July and August 1943. The battle began with the launch of the German offensive, Operation Citadel (German: "Unternehmen Zitadelle" ), on 5 July, which had the objective of pinching off the Kursk salient with attacks on the base of the salient from north and south simultaneously. After the German offensive stalled on the northern side of the salient, on 12 July the Soviets commenced their Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Kutuzov (Russian: Кутузов ) against the rear of the German forces in the northern side. On the southern side, the Soviets also launched powerful counterattacks the same day, one of which led to a large armoured clash, the Battle of Prokhorovka. On 3 August, the Soviets began the second phase of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian: Полководец Румянцев ) against the German forces in the southern side of the Kursk salient.
16th Army (Soviet Union) The 16th Army Headquarters was formed in July 1940 in the Transbaikal Military District to command Soviet forces deployed in the Dauriya area. On 25 May 1941, four weeks before the commencement of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, the army received orders to deploy (with six Trans-Baikalian divisions) to the Ukraine to be subordinated to the Kiev Special Military District. The first 16th Army units to arrive (109th Motorized Division of the 5th Mechanized Corps) in Berdichev on 18 June 1941. The Army was commanded by Lieutenant-General М. F. Lukin, and on 22 June the Army Headquarters was located in Orel.