1st Ukrainian Front

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1st Ukrainian Front
The commanders of the 1st Ukrainian Front at the Moscow Victory Parade. June 24, 1945.
Active	1943-1945
Country	Soviet Union
Type	Army Group Command
Role	Co-ordination and conduct of Red Army Operations in Ukraine, Poland, and Germany
Size	Several Armies
Battles/wars	Korsun-Shevchenkivskyy Hube's Pocket Lvov-Sandomierz Operation Vistula-Oder Offensive Upper Silesian Offensive Battle of Breslau (1945) Berlin Halbe Encirclement Prague
Commanders
Notable commanders	General Nikolai F. Vatutin (October 1943-March 1944) Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov (March 1944-May 1944) Marshal Ivan S. Konev (May 1944-May 1945)

The 1st Ukrainian Front was a Front (military subdivision) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. Here the term "front" is different from the general usage of military front.

[edit] Wartime

The 1st Ukrainian Front was created on October 20, 1943 as the new designation of the existing Voronezh Front. This name change reflected the westward advance of the Red Army in its campaign against the German Wehrmacht, leaving Russia behind and moving into Ukraine. The front participated or conducted battles in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia during 1944 and 1945.

During 1944, the front participated with other fronts in the battles of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyy, and the battle of Hube's Pocket in Ukraine. It conducted the Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive, during which the Front was controlling the 1st Guards Tank Army, 3rd Guards Tank Army, 4th Tank Army, 3rd Guards, 5th Guards, 13th, 38th, and 60th Armies. It then took part in the battle for Tarnopol.

In 1945 the front participated in the Vistula-Oder offensive, and conducted the Silesian and Prague Operations, and the siege of Breslau. It also participated in the Berlin operations in Germany and Poland. The front also conducted the major part of the Halbe Encirclement, in which most of the German 9th Army was destroyed south of Berlin. It provided the defence against the counter-attacks by Armee Wenck which aimed to relieve Berlin and the 9th Army.

The front was victorious in all of its operations over the opposing forces of the Wehrmacht. The Prague Operation was the final battle of World War II in Europe.

Following the war, the Front headquarters formed the Central Group of Forces of the Red Army in Austria and Hungary, guarding the Iron Curtain.