| Crimean Offensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Southern Front, Second Russian Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Russian Fascist Army Ukrainian NationalistForeign volunteers: |
 West Russia
| ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Konstantin Rodzaevsky Mikhail Meandrov Andrei Shkuro
|
Viktor Chernov Andrey Vlasov Andriy Livytskyi
| ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 120,000 | 160,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 43,000 | 71,000 | ||||||
The Crimean Offensive, or Operation Torpeda (English: Operation Torpedo) was a military operation by the Russian Fascist Army to assault and gain control over the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea in early 1940 after the capture of Northwestern Russia. The Operation was successful and Romanian forces in the Black Sea were withdrawal in late May.
Background[]
After the capture of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the Russian Fascist Army was heavily devastated and Romania joined the effort to support the White Army and attempted to encircle the RFA in the Western Front. The Fascist Russians and Hungarian volunteers aided by Germany advanced to the northern border in Ukraine as the nation officially declared war on East Russia. The Battle of Kiev occurred in late 1939 as a result of the escalated border conflicts, ending in Fascist victory. The Ukrainians were highly influenced by Russian Fascism and acknowledged the incompetence of the current government, resulting in the rise of Nationalism in all of Ukraine, causing disarrays in the armed forces.
Black Sea Campaign[]
The Romanian Black Sea Campaign started in mid-1939 right after the declaration as part of the Coalition intervention in the civil war. A vast amount of Romanian warships were deployed to the Black Sea, helping the White Army by bombarding Fascist-occupied territories. The Fascist launched the offensive directly onto Crimea, forcing the Romanians to be withdrawal in the Black Sea, leading to the end of Romanian intervention in August 1940.
[]
The West Russian Navy was the remnants of the elite Imperial Russian Navy of the first Russian Civil War and the Soviet Navy with limited usage in the USSR's lifetime. Russian warships from years ago were frequently seen in the coastlines of the Crimean peninsula bombing the Fascists in close-range.
Other Coalition Interveners[]
Poland[]
Poland was a major power in the entire intervention because of its direct borders with Ukraine and Russia as Belarus was under Polish military administration after the fall of the Soviet Union. The nation's armed forces in the defense of Crimea saw 8000 active troops.
United Kingdom[]
The United Kingdom cooperated with Romania's naval campaign in the Black Sea with the most powerful navy and air force in the world. Bombardments were launched to Fascist front lines by His Majesty's ships near the coast of Crimea and the Royal Air Force was busy in the skies of all of Russia. The British military saw limited land effort in the Defense of Crimea with only 300 Scottish troops sent to the front line.
France[]
France contributed in every single front in the second Russian civil war alongside Britain. The French Volunteer Corps were seen action in the front lines of Crimea until the withdrawal of its troops in April as Fascist forces pushed further into mainland Ukraine.
Aftermath[]
- West Russian Navy destroyed, Fascists gain naval superiority in the East of the Black Sea.
- Fascist Army controls the Southern Front, leading to the Battle of Volgograd.