The Soviet-Japanese War began in 1945. After the capitulation of fascist Germany, the military-political situation of its partner Japan deteriorated sharply. Having superiority in naval forces, the United States and England reached the near approaches to this state. However, the Japanese rejected the ultimatum from the United States, Britain and China to surrender.

The Soviets gave their consent to America and England to enter into hostilities against Japan - after Germany was completely defeated. The date for the entry of the Soviet Union into the war was named at the Crimean Conference of the Three Allied Powers in February 1945. This was supposed to happen three months after the victory over Germany. Preparations began for a military campaign in the Far East.

"At war with Japan..."

Three fronts were to enter into hostilities - the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2-1 Far Eastern. The Pacific Fleet, the Red Banner Amur Flotilla, and the border air defense troops were also to participate in the war. During the period of preparation for the operation, the number of the entire group increased and amounted to 1.747 thousand people. These were serious forces. 600 rocket launchers, 900 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts were put into service.

What forces opposed Japan? The basis of the grouping of Japanese and puppet forces was the Kwantung Army. It consisted of 24 infantry divisions, 9 mixed brigades, 2 tank brigades and a suicide brigade. From weapons there were 1215 tanks, 6640 guns and mortars, 26 ships and 1907 combat aircraft. The total number of troops was more than a million people.

To direct military operations, the State Defense Committee of the USSR decided to create the High Command of the Soviet troops in the Far East. It was headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. On August 8, 1945, a statement of the Soviet government was published. It stated that from August 9, the USSR would consider itself at war with Japan.

Start of hostilities

On the night of August 9, all units and formations received the Declaration of the Soviet government, appeals from the military councils of the fronts and armies, and combat orders to go on the offensive. The military campaign included the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the South Sakhalin offensive and the Kuril landing operation.

The main component of the war - the Manchurian strategic offensive operation - was carried out by the forces of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla entered into close cooperation with them. The outlined plan was grandiose in scale: the encirclement of the enemy was planned on a territory of one and a half million square kilometers.

And so the hostilities began. The enemy communications linking Korea and Manchuria with Japan were cut by the Pacific Fleet. Aviation also delivered strikes against military installations, areas of concentration of troops, communication centers and communications of the enemy in the border zone. The troops of the Trans-Baikal Front marched through the waterless desert-steppe regions, overcame the Great Khingan mountain range and defeated the enemy in the Kalgan, Solun and Hailar directions, on August 18 they reached the approaches to Manchuria.

The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front (commander K.A. Meretskov) overcame the strip of border fortified troops. They not only repulsed strong enemy counterattacks in the Mudanjiang region, but also liberated the territory of North Korea. The Amur and Ussuri rivers were forced by the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (commander M.A. Purkaev). Then they broke through the enemy defenses in the Sakhalyan region and overcame the Lesser Khingan ridge. After the Soviet troops reached the Central Manchurian Plain, they divided the Japanese forces into isolated groups and completed the maneuver to encircle them. On August 19, Japanese troops began to surrender.

Kuril landing and South Sakhalin offensive operations

As a result of the successful military operations of the Soviet troops in Manchuria and South Sakhalin, conditions were created for the liberation of the Kuril Islands. The Kuril landing operation lasted from August 18 to September 1. It began with a landing on the island of Shumshu. The garrison of the island outnumbered the Soviet forces, but on August 23 he capitulated. Following on August 22-28, our troops landed on other islands in the northern part of the ridge up to Urup Island (inclusive). Then the islands of the southern part of the ridge were occupied.

On August 11-25, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front carried out an operation to liberate South Sakhalin. 18,320 Japanese soldiers and officers surrendered to the Soviet army after it captured all the heavily fortified strongholds in the border zone, defended by the forces of the 88th Japanese Infantry Division, units of the border gendarmerie and detachments of reservists. On September 2, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed. This happened aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On behalf of Japan, it was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Shigemitsu, Chief of the General Staff of Japan Umezu, and on behalf of the USSR by Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.

The million-strong Kwantung Army was completely defeated. The Second World War of 1939-1945 was over. On the Japanese side, the loss of the dead amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand people were taken prisoner. The losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people (according to Soviet data).

The Soviet-Japanese War was of great political and military importance.

The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Empire of Japan and made a significant contribution to its defeat, hastened the end of World War II. Historians have repeatedly stated that without the entry into the war of the USSR, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.

By decision of the Crimean Conference of 1945 (Yalta Conference), the USSR was able to return to its territory the territories that were lost by the Russian Empire in 1905 following the Treaty of Portsmouth (Southern Sakhalin), as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands, which was ceded to Japan in 1875.

Attack of the Japanese destroyers of the Russian squadron.

On the night of February 8-9 (January 26-27), 1904, 10 Japanese destroyers suddenly attacked the Russian squadron on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. The squadron battleships "Tsesarevich", "Retvizan" and the cruiser "Pallada" were heavily damaged by the explosions of Japanese torpedoes and, in order not to sink, ran aground. Japanese destroyers were damaged by artillery fire from the Russian squadron. IJN Akatsuki and IJN Shirakumo. Thus began the Russo-Japanese War.

On the same day, Japanese troops began landing in the area of ​​the port of Chemulpo. When trying to leave the port and head to Port Arthur, the gunboat "Koreets" was attacked by Japanese destroyers, forcing her to return.

February 9 (January 27), 1904, there was a battle at Chemulpo. As a result of which, due to the impossibility of a breakthrough, the cruiser "Varyag" was flooded by their crews and the gunboat "Koreets" was blown up.

On the same day, February 9 (January 27), 1904, Admiral Jessen went out at the head of the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers to the sea to begin hostilities to disrupt the transport communications between Japan and Korea.

On February 11 (January 29), 1904, near Port Arthur, not far from the San Shan Tao Islands, the Russian cruiser Boyarin was blown up by a Japanese mine.

On February 24 (February 11), 1904, the Japanese fleet tried to close the exit from Port Arthur by sinking 5 ships loaded with stone. The attempt was unsuccessful.

On February 25 (February 12), 1904, two Russian destroyers "Fearless" and "Impressive" stumbled upon 4 Japanese cruisers when leaving for reconnaissance. The first managed to escape, and the second was driven into Golubaya Bay, where it was flooded by order of Captain M. Podushkin.

March 2 (February 18), 1904, by order of the Naval General Staff, the Mediterranean squadron of Admiral A. Virenius (battleship Oslyabya, cruisers Aurora and Dmitry Donskoy and 7 destroyers), heading to Port Arthur, was recalled to the Baltic Sea .

On March 6 (February 22), 1904, the Japanese squadron shelled Vladivostok. The damage was insignificant. The fortress was transferred to a state of siege.

On March 8 (February 24), 1904, the new commander of the Russian Pacific squadron, Vice Admiral S. Makarov, arrived in Port Arthur, who replaced Admiral O. Stark in this post.

March 10 (February 26), 1904 in the Yellow Sea, when returning from reconnaissance to Port Arthur, was sunk by four Japanese destroyers ( IJN Usugumo , IJN Shinonome , IJN Akebono , IJN Sazanami) Russian destroyer "Guarding", and "Resolute" managed to return to the port.

Russian fleet in Port Arthur.

On March 27 (March 14), 1904, the second attempt by the Japanese to block the entrance to the harbor of Port Arthur was thwarted by flooding fireships.

April 4 (March 22), 1904 Japanese battleships IJN Fuji and IJN Yashima bombarded Port Arthur with fire from Pigeon Bay. In total, they fired 200 shots and main battery guns. But the effect was minimal.

On April 12 (March 30), 1904, the Russian destroyer Terrible was sunk by Japanese destroyers.

On April 13 (March 31), 1904, the battleship Petropavlovsk blew up on a mine and sank with almost the entire crew while going to sea. Among the dead was Admiral S. O. Makarov. Also on this day, the battleship Pobeda was damaged by a mine explosion and out of action for several weeks.

April 15 (April 2), 1904 Japanese cruisers IJN Kasuga and IJN Nisshin fired at the inner roadstead of Port Arthur with throwing fire.

On April 25 (April 12), 1904, the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers sank a Japanese steamer off the coast of Korea. IJN Goyo-Maru, coaster IJN Haginura Maru and Japanese military transport IJN Kinsu-Maru, after which he went to Vladivostok.

May 2 (April 19), 1904 by the Japanese, supported by gunboats IJN Akagi and IJN Chōkai, destroyers of the 9th, 14th and 16th destroyer fleets, a third and final attempt was made to block the entrance to Port Arthur harbor, this time using 10 transports ( IJN Mikasha-Maru, IJN Sakura-Maru, IJN Totomi-Maru, IJN Otaru-Maru, IJN Sagami-Maru, IJN Aikoku-Maru, IJN Omi-Maru, IJN Asagao-Maru, IJN Iedo Maru, IJN Kokura-Maru, IJN Fuzan Maru) As a result, they managed to partially block the passage and temporarily make it impossible for large Russian ships to exit. This contributed to the unhindered landing of the 2nd Japanese Army in Manchuria.

On May 5 (April 22), 1904, the 2nd Japanese Army under the command of General Yasukata Oku, numbering about 38.5 thousand people, began landing on the Liaodong Peninsula, about 100 kilometers from Port Arthur.

On May 12 (April 29), 1904, four Japanese destroyers of the 2nd flotilla of Admiral I. Miyako began to sweep Russian mines in Kerr Bay. When performing the task, the destroyer No. 48 hit a mine and sank. On the same day, Japanese troops finally cut off Port Arthur from Manchuria. The siege of Port Arthur began.

Doom IJN Hatsuse on Russian mines.

On May 15 (May 2), 1904, two Japanese battleships blew up and sank on a minefield set up the day before by the Amur minelayer. IJN Yashima and IJN Hatsuse .

Also on this day, Japanese cruisers collided off Elliot Island. IJN Kasuga and IJN Yoshino, in which the second from the received damage sank. And off the southeast coast of Kanglu Island, an aviso ran aground IJN Tatsuta .

On May 16 (May 3), 1904, two Japanese gunboats collided during a landing operation southeast of the city of Yingkou. The boat sank as a result of the collision. IJN Oshima .

On May 17 (May 4), 1904, a Japanese destroyer blew up and sank on a mine. IJN Akatsuki .

On May 27 (May 14), 1904, not far from the city of Dalniy, he ran into stones and was blown up by his team, the Russian destroyer Attentive. On the same day, Japanese advice IJN Miyako hit a Russian mine and sank in Kerr Bay.

On June 12 (May 30), 1904, the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers entered the Korea Strait to disrupt Japan's sea lanes.

On June 15 (June 2), 1904, the cruiser Gromoboy sank two Japanese transports: IJN Izuma-Maru and IJN Hitachi Maru, and the cruiser "Rurik" sank Japanese transport with two torpedoes IJN Sado-Maru. In total, the three transports carried 2,445 Japanese officers and men, 320 horses, and 18 heavy 11-inch howitzers.

On June 23 (June 10), 1904, the Pacific squadron of Rear Admiral V. Vitgoft made the first attempt to break through to Vladivostok. But when the Japanese fleet of Admiral H. Togo was discovered, she returned to Port Arthur without engaging in battle. On the night of the same day, Japanese destroyers launched an unsuccessful attack on the Russian squadron.

On June 28 (June 15), 1904, the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers under Admiral Jessen went to sea again to disrupt the enemy’s sea lanes.

On July 17 (July 4), 1904, the Russian destroyer No. 208 blew up and sank in a Japanese minefield near Skrypleva Island.

July 18 (July 5), 1904 was blown up by a mine of the Russian mine layer "Yenisei" in Talienvan Bay and the Japanese cruiser sank IJN Kaimon .

On July 20 (July 7), 1904, the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers entered the Pacific Ocean through the Sangar Strait.

On July 22 (July 9), 1904, a detachment was detained with a contraband cargo and sent to Vladivostok with a prize crew, an English steamer Arabia.

On July 23 (July 10), 1904, the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers approached the entrance to Tokyo Bay. Here an English steamer with smuggled cargo was inspected and sunk. night commander. Also on this day, several Japanese schooners and a German steamer were sunk. Tea who was smuggled to Japan. And the later captured English steamer Kalhas, after inspection, was sent to Vladivostok. The cruisers of the detachment also headed to their port.

On July 25 (July 12), 1904, a squadron of Japanese destroyers approached the mouth of the Liaohe River from the sea. The team of the Russian gunboat "Sivuch", due to the impossibility of a breakthrough, after landing on the shore, blew up their ship.

On August 7 (July 25), 1904, for the first time, Japanese troops bombarded Port Arthur and its harbors from land. As a result of the shelling, the battleship "Tsesarevich" was damaged, the commander of the squadron, Rear Admiral V. Vitgeft, was slightly wounded. The battleship Retvizan was also damaged.

On August 8 (July 26), 1904, a detachment of ships consisting of the Novik cruiser, the Beaver gunboat and 15 destroyers participated in the shelling of the advancing Japanese troops in Tahe Bay, causing heavy losses.

Battle in the Yellow Sea.

On August 10 (July 28), 1904, while trying to break through the Russian squadron from Port Arthur to Vladivostok, a battle took place in the Yellow Sea. During the battle, Rear Admiral V. Witgeft was killed, the Russian squadron, having lost control, disintegrated. 5 Russian battleships, the cruiser "Bayan" and 2 destroyers in disarray began to retreat to Port Arthur. Only the battleship "Tsesarevich", the cruisers "Novik", "Askold", "Diana" and 6 destroyers broke through the Japanese blockade. The battleship "Tsesarevich", the cruiser "Novik" and 3 destroyers headed for Qingdao, the cruiser "Askold" and the destroyer "Grozovoi" - for Shanghai, the cruiser "Diana" - for Saigon.

On August 11 (July 29), 1904, the Vladivostok detachment came out to meet the Russian squadron, which was supposed to break through from Port Arthur. The battleship "Tsesarevich", the cruiser "Novik", the destroyers "Silent", "Merciless" and "Fearless" arrived in Qingdao. The Novik cruiser, having loaded 250 tons of coal into the bunker, went to sea in order to break through to Vladivostok. On the same day, the Russian destroyer "Resolute" was interned in Chifu by the Chinese authorities. Also on August 11, the team sank the damaged destroyer Burny.

August 12 (July 30), 1904 in Chifu, two Japanese destroyers captured the previously interned destroyer Resolute.

On August 13 (July 31), 1904, the damaged Russian cruiser Askold was interned and disarmed in Shanghai.

On August 14 (August 1), 1904, four Japanese cruisers ( IJN Izumo , IJN Tokiwa , IJN Azuma and IJN Iwate) intercepted three Russian cruisers going to meet the First Pacific Squadron ("Russia", "Rurik" and "Gromoboy"). A battle took place between them, which went down in history under the name Battle in the Korea Strait. As a result of the battle, the Rurik was sunk, and the other two Russian cruisers returned to Vladivostok with damage.

On August 15 (August 2), 1904, the German authorities interned the Russian battleship Tsesarevich in Qingdao.

On August 16 (August 3), 1904, the damaged cruisers Gromoboi and Rossiya returned to Vladivostok. In Port Arthur, the proposal of the Japanese general M. Noga to surrender the fortress was rejected. On the same day, in the Pacific Ocean, the Russian cruiser Novik stopped and inspected the English steamer. Celtic.

On August 20 (August 7), 1904, a battle took place off Sakhalin Island between the Russian cruiser Novik and Japanese IJN Tsushima and IJN Chitose. As a result of the battle "Novik" and IJN Tsushima received serious damage. Due to the impossibility of repair and the danger of the ship being captured by the enemy, the Novik commander M. Schultz decided to flood the ship.

On August 24 (August 11), 1904, the Russian cruiser Diana was interned by the French authorities in Saigon.

On September 7 (August 25), 1904, the Trout submarine was sent from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok by rail.

On October 1 (September 18), 1904, a Japanese gunboat was blown up by a Russian mine and sank near Iron Island. IJN Heiyen.

On October 15 (October 2), 1904, the 2nd Pacific squadron of Admiral Z. Rozhestvensky left Libava for the Far East.

November 3 (October 21) was blown up by a mine exposed by the Russian destroyer "Skory" and sank in a Japanese destroyer near Cape Lun-Wan-Tan IJN Hayatori .

On November 5 (October 23), 1904, on the inner roadstead of Port Arthur, after being hit by a Japanese shell, the ammunition of the Russian battleship Poltava detonated. As a result, the ship sank.

On November 6 (October 24), 1904, a Japanese gunboat ran into a rock in the fog and sank near Port Arthur. IJN Atago .

On November 28 (November 15), 1904, the Dolphin submarine was sent by rail from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.

On December 6 (November 23), 1904, Japanese artillery, mounted on the day before captured height No. 206, began a massive shelling of Russian ships stationed in the inner roadstead of Port Arthur. By the end of the day, they sank the battleship "Retvisan" and the battleship "Peresvet" was heavily damaged. To keep intact, the battleship "Sevastopol", the gunboat "Courageous" and destroyers, were taken out from under Japanese fire to the outer roadstead.

On December 7 (November 24), 1904, due to the impossibility of repair after damage received from Japanese shelling, the crew of the battleship Peresvet was sunk by the crew in the western basin of Port Arthur harbor.

On December 8 (November 25), 1904, Russian ships, the battleship Pobeda and the cruiser Pallada, were sunk by Japanese artillery in the inner roadstead of Port Arthur.

On December 9 (November 26), 1904, Japanese heavy artillery sank the Bayan cruiser, the Amur mine layer and the Gilyak gunboat.

December 25 (December 12), 1904 IJN Takasago during a patrol, she hit a mine laid by the Russian destroyer Angry and sank in the Yellow Sea between Port Arthur and Chifu.

On December 26 (December 13), 1904, the gunboat "Beaver" was sunk by Japanese artillery fire on the Port Arthur roadstead.

Submarines of the Siberian Flotilla in Vladivostok.

On December 31 (December 18), 1904, the first four submarines of the Kasatka type arrived in Vladivostok from St. Petersburg by rail.

On January 1, 1905 (December 19, 1904) in Port Arthur, by order of the crew command, the battleships Poltava and Peresvet, half-flooded in the inner roadstead, were blown up, and the battleship Sevastopol was flooded in the outer roadstead.

On January 2, 1905 (December 20, 1904), the commander of the defense of Port Arthur, General A. Stessel, ordered the surrender of the fortress. The siege of Port Arthur is over.

On the same day, before the surrender of the fortress, the clippers Dzhigit and Robber were flooded. The 1st Pacific squadron was completely destroyed.

On January 5, 1905 (December 23, 1904), the Dolphin submarine arrived from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok by rail.

January 14 (January 1), 1905, by order of the commander of the port of Vladivostok from the Trout submarines,.

On March 20 (March 7), 1905, the 2nd Pacific squadron of Admiral Z. Rozhdestvensky passed the Strait of Malaka and entered the Pacific Ocean.

On March 26 (March 13), 1905, the Dolphin submarine left Vladivostok for a combat position on Askold Island.

On March 29 (March 16), 1905, the Dolphin submarine returned to Vladivostok from combat duty off Askold Island.

On April 11 (March 29), 1905, torpedoes were delivered to Russian submarines in Vladivostok.

On April 13 (March 31), 1905, the 2nd Pacific squadron of Admiral Z. Rozhdestvensky arrived in Kamran Bay in Indochina.

On April 22 (April 9), 1905, the Kasatka submarine set out from Vladivostok to the coast of Korea.

On May 7 (April 24), 1905, the cruisers Rossiya and Gromoboy left Vladivostok to disrupt the enemy's sea lanes.

On May 9 (April 26), 1905, the 1st Detachment of the 3rd Pacific Squadron of Rear Admiral N. Nebogatov and the 2nd Pacific Squadron of Vice Admiral Z. Rozhestvensky joined forces in Cam Ranh Bay.

On May 11 (April 28), 1905, the cruisers Rossiya and Gromoboy returned to Vladivostok. During the raid, they sank four Japanese transport ships.

On May 12 (April 29), 1905, three submarines were sent to the Transfiguration Bay to intercept the Japanese detachment - the Dolphin, the Kasatka and the Catfish. At 10 o'clock in the morning, not far from Vladivostok, at Cape Povorotny, the first battle took place with the participation of a submarine. "Catfish" attacked the Japanese destroyers, but the attack ended to no avail.

On May 14 (May 1), 1905, the Russian 2nd Pacific squadron of Admiral Z. Rozhdestvensky entered Vladivostok from Indochina.

May 18 (May 5), 1905 in Vladivostok near the quay wall from the explosion of gasoline vapors, the submarine "Dolphin" sank.

On May 29 (May 16), 1905, in the Sea of ​​Japan near the island of Evenlet, the battleship Dmitry Donskoy was scuttled by its crew.

On May 30 (May 17), 1905, the Russian cruiser Izumrud landed on rocks near Cape Orekhov in St. Vladimir Bay and was blown up by her crew.

On June 3 (May 21), 1905, in the Philippines in Manila, American authorities interned the Russian cruiser Zhemchug.

On June 9 (May 27), 1905, the Russian cruiser Aurora was interned by the American authorities in the Philippines in Manila.

On June 29 (June 16), 1905, in Port Arthur, Japanese rescuers raised the Russian battleship Peresvet from the bottom.

On July 7 (June 24), 1905, Japanese troops launched the Sakhalin landing operation to land a force of 14 thousand people. While the Russian troops numbered only 7.2 thousand people on the island.

On July 8 (July 25), 1905, Japanese rescuers raised the sunken Russian battleship Poltava in Port Arthur.

On July 29 (July 16), 1905, the Japanese Sakhalin landing operation ended with the surrender of the Russian troops.

On August 14 (August 1), 1905, in the Tatar Strait, the Keta submarine carried out an unsuccessful attack on two Japanese destroyers.

On August 22 (August 9), 1905, negotiations between Japan and Russia began in Portsmouth through the mediation of the United States.

September 5 (August 23) in the United States in Portsmouth between the Japanese Empire and the Russian Empire was signed a peace treaty. According to the treaty, Japan received the Liaodong Peninsula, part of the CER from Port Arthur to the city of Changchun and South Sakhalin, Russia recognized Japan's predominant interests in Korea and agreed to conclude a Russian-Japanese fishing convention. Russia and Japan pledged to withdraw their troops from Manchuria. Japan's demand for reparations was rejected.

background

At the Yalta Conference of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition, held in February 1945, the United States and Great Britain obtained final consent from the USSR to enter the war with Japan three months after the victory over Nazi Germany. In exchange for participation in hostilities, the Soviet Union was to receive South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, lost after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

At that time, the Neutrality Pact was in force between the USSR and Japan, concluded in 1941 for a period of 5 years. In April 1945, the USSR announced the unilateral termination of the pact on the grounds that Japan was an ally of Germany and waged war against the allies of the USSR. “In this situation, the Neutrality Pact between Japan and the USSR lost its meaning, and the extension of this Pact became impossible,” the Soviet side said. The sudden termination of the treaty threw the Japanese government into disarray. And it was from what! The position of the Land of the Rising Sun in the war was approaching critical, the allies inflicted a number of heavy defeats on the Pacific theater of operations. Japanese cities and industrial centers were subjected to continuous bombardment. Not a single more or less reasonable person in the Japanese government and command no longer believed in the possibility of victory, the only hope was that they would be able to wear down the American troops and achieve acceptable surrender conditions for themselves.

In turn, the Americans understood that victory over Japan would not be easy. A good example of this are the battles for the island of Okinawa. The Japanese had about 77,000 people on the island. The Americans fielded about 470,000 against them. The island was taken, but the Americans lost nearly 50 thousand soldiers killed and wounded. According to the estimate of the US Secretary of War, a final victory over Japan, provided the Soviet Union did not intervene, would have cost America about a million dead and wounded.

The document declaring war was handed over to the Japanese ambassador in Moscow at 17:00 on August 8, 1945. It said that hostilities would begin the next day. However, taking into account the time difference between Moscow and the Far East, in fact, the Japanese had only one hour before the Red Army went on the offensive.

Confrontation

The strategic plan of the Soviet side included three operations: Manchurian, South Sakhalin and Kuril. It was the first one that was the most significant and large-scale, and it is on it that we should dwell in more detail.

In Manchuria, the Kwantung Army under the command of General Otsuzo Yamada became an enemy of the USSR. It included about a million personnel, more than 6,000 guns and mortars, about 1,500 aircraft, and more than 1,000 tanks.

The grouping of Red Army troops at the time the offensive began had a serious numerical superiority over the enemy: only there were 1.6 times more fighters. In terms of the number of tanks, the Soviet troops outnumbered the Japanese by about 5 times, in artillery and mortars - 10 times, in aircraft - more than three times. Moreover, the superiority of the Soviet Union was not only quantitative. The equipment that was in service with the Red Army was much more modern and powerful than that of its enemy.

The Japanese had long understood that war with the Soviet Union was inevitable. Therefore, a large number of fortified areas were created. Let us consider as an example one of them - the Hailar region, against which the left flank of the Trans-Baikal Front of the Red Army acted. This area has been under construction for over 10 years. By August 1945, it consisted of 116 pillboxes connected by concrete underground communication passages, a developed system of trenches and a large number of engineering defensive structures. The area was defended by Japanese troops numbering more than a division.

It took the Soviet troops several days to suppress the resistance of this fortified area. It would seem that not too long a time, the troops were not stuck for months. But during this time, in other sectors of the Trans-Baikal Front, the Red Army managed to advance more than 150 kilometers. So by the standards of this war, the obstacle was quite serious. And even after the main forces of the garrison of the Hailar region surrendered, separate groups of Japanese soldiers continued to fight, demonstrating examples of fanatical courage. In Soviet reports from the battlefield, soldiers of the Kwantung Army are constantly mentioned, who chained themselves to machine guns so as not to be able to leave the position.

Against the background of the very successful actions of the Red Army, it is necessary to note such an outstanding operation as the 350-kilometer throw of the 6th Guards Tank Army across the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Range. The Khingan Mountains seemed like an insurmountable obstacle to technology. The passes through which the Soviet tanks went were at an altitude of about 2 thousand meters above sea level. The steepness of the slopes in some places reached 50 degrees, so the cars had to move in a zigzag. The situation was complicated by continuous heavy rains, impassable mud and overflow of mountain rivers. Nevertheless, Soviet tanks stubbornly moved forward. By August 11, they had crossed the mountains and found themselves in the rear of the Kwantung Army, on the Central Manchurian Plain. The army experienced a shortage of fuel and ammunition, so the Soviet command had to establish supplies by air. Transport aviation delivered more than 900 tons of tank fuel alone to our troops. As a result of this unprecedented offensive, the Red Army managed to capture only about 200,000 Japanese prisoners. In addition, a large number of weapons and equipment were captured.

The 1st Far Eastern Front of the Red Army faced fierce resistance from the Japanese, who fortified on the heights of Ostraya and Camel, which were part of the Khotous fortified area. The approaches to these heights were swampy, indented by a large number of small rivers. Scarps were excavated on the slopes and wire fences were installed. The Japanese cut down firing points in a granite rock massif. Concrete caps of pillboxes had a thickness of about one and a half meters.

The defenders of the height of Ostraya rejected all the demands of the Soviet troops for surrender. The commander of the fortified area cut off his head to a local resident, who was used as a truce (the Japanese did not go into dialogue with the Red Army at all). And when the Soviet troops finally managed to break into the fortifications, they found only the dead there. Moreover, among the defenders were not only men, but even women armed with grenades and daggers.

In the battles for the city of Mudanjiang, the Japanese actively used kamikaze saboteurs. Strapped with grenades, these people rushed at Soviet tanks and soldiers. On one of the sectors of the front, about 200 "live mines" lay on the ground in front of the advancing equipment. Suicide attacks were successful only at first. In the future, the Red Army increased their vigilance and, as a rule, managed to shoot the saboteur before he could approach and explode, causing damage to equipment or manpower.

The final

On August 15, Emperor Hirohito made a radio address announcing that Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Conference and capitulated. The emperor called on the nation to courage, patience and unite all forces to build a new future.

Three days later, on August 18, 1945, at 13:00 local time, the Kwantung Army Command addressed the troops on the radio, saying that in view of the futility of further resistance, a decision was made to surrender. Over the next few days, the Japanese units that did not have direct contact with the headquarters were notified and the terms of surrender were agreed.

Most of the military accepted the terms of surrender without objection. Moreover, in the city of Changchun, where the strength of the Soviet troops was not enough, the Japanese themselves guarded military facilities for several days. However, a small number of fanatical soldiers and officers continued to resist, refusing to obey the "cowardly" order to cease hostilities. Their war stopped only when they died.

On September 2, 1945, an act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. The signing of this document is the official date for the end of World War II.

Ilya Kramnik, military observer for RIA Novosti.

The war between the USSR and Japan in 1945, which became the last major campaign of World War II, lasted less than a month - from August 9 to September 2, 1945, but this month became a key one in the history of the Far East and the entire Asia-Pacific region, and, conversely, initiating many historical processes lasting decades.

background

The prerequisites for the Soviet-Japanese war arose exactly on the day when the Russo-Japanese war ended - on the day the Portsmouth Peace was signed on September 5, 1905. Russia's territorial losses were insignificant - the Liaodong Peninsula rented from China and the southern part of Sakhalin Island. Much more significant was the loss of influence in the world as a whole and in the Far East, in particular, caused by an unsuccessful war on land and the death of most of the fleet at sea. The feeling of national humiliation was also very strong.
Japan became the dominant Far Eastern power; it exploited marine resources almost uncontrollably, including in Russian territorial waters, where it carried out predatory fishing, crab fishing, sea animal hunting, etc.

This situation intensified during the revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Civil War, when Japan actually occupied the Russian Far East for several years, and left the region with great reluctance under pressure from the United States and Great Britain, who feared the excessive strengthening of yesterday's ally in the First World War.

At the same time, there was a process of strengthening Japan's positions in China, which was also weakened and fragmented. The reverse process that began in the 1920s - the strengthening of the USSR, which was recovering from military and revolutionary upheavals - rather quickly led to relations between Tokyo and Moscow that could easily be described as a "cold war". The Far East has long become an arena of military confrontation and local conflicts. By the end of the 1930s, tensions reached a peak, and this period was marked by the two largest clashes between the USSR and Japan in this period - the conflict on Lake Khasan in 1938 and on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.

Fragile Neutrality

Having suffered quite serious losses and convinced of the power of the Red Army, Japan chose to conclude a neutrality pact with the USSR on April 13, 1941, and free its hands for the war in the Pacific Ocean.

This pact was also needed by the Soviet Union. At that time, it became obvious that the "naval lobby", pushing the southern direction of the war, was playing an increasing role in Japanese politics. The position of the army, on the other hand, was weakened by offensive defeats. The probability of war with Japan was not very high, while the conflict with Germany was getting closer every day.

For Germany itself, Japan's partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact, which saw Japan as the main ally and future partner in the New World Order, the agreement between Moscow and Tokyo was a serious slap in the face and caused complications in relations between Berlin and Tokyo. Tokyo, however, pointed out to the Germans the existence of a similar neutrality pact between Moscow and Berlin.

The two main aggressors of World War II could not agree, and each waged his main war - Germany against the USSR in Europe, Japan - against the USA and Great Britain in the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, Germany declared war on the United States on the day of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, but Japan did not declare war on the USSR, which the Germans had hoped for.

However, relations between the USSR and Japan could hardly be called good - Japan constantly violated the signed pact, detaining Soviet ships at sea, periodically allowing attacks by Soviet military and civilian ships, violating the border on land, etc.

It was obvious that the signed document was not valuable for any of the parties for any long period, and the war was only a matter of time. However, since 1942, the situation gradually began to change: the marked turning point in the war forced Japan to abandon long-term plans for a war against the USSR, and at the same time, the Soviet Union began to consider plans for the return of territories lost during the Russo-Japanese War more and more carefully.

By 1945, when the situation became critical, Japan tried to start negotiations with the Western allies, using the USSR as an intermediary, but this did not bring success.

During the Yalta Conference, the USSR announced an obligation to start a war against Japan within 2-3 months after the end of the war against Germany. The intervention of the USSR was seen as necessary by the allies: to defeat Japan, it was necessary to defeat its ground forces, which for the most part had not yet been affected by the war, and the allies feared that landing on the Japanese islands would cost them great sacrifices.

Japan, with the neutrality of the USSR, could count on the continuation of the war and the reinforcement of the forces of the mother country at the expense of resources and troops stationed in Manchuria and Korea, communication with which continued, despite all attempts to interrupt it.

The declaration of war by the Soviet Union finally destroyed these hopes. On August 9, 1945, speaking at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for the Direction of War, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki stated:

"The entry into the war of the Soviet Union this morning puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue the war."

It should be noted that the nuclear bombings in this case were only an additional reason for an early exit from the war, but not the main reason. Suffice it to say that the massive bombing of Tokyo in the spring of 1945, which caused about the same number of victims as Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, did not lead Japan to thoughts of surrender. And only the entry into the war of the USSR against the backdrop of nuclear bombings forced the leadership of the Empire to recognize the futility of continuing the war.

"August Storm"

The war itself, nicknamed in the West "August Storm", was swift. Possessing rich experience in military operations against the Germans, the Soviet troops broke through the Japanese defenses in a series of quick and decisive blows and launched an offensive deep into Manchuria. Tank units successfully advanced in seemingly unsuitable conditions - through the sands of the Gobi and the Khingan ridges, but the military machine, debugged over the four years of the war with the most formidable enemy, practically did not fail.

As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Xinjing. By this time, the First Far Eastern Front had broken the resistance of the Japanese in the east of Manchuria, having occupied the largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas in the depths of the defense, Soviet troops had to overcome fierce enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was carried out with special force in the Mudanjiang area. There were cases of stubborn resistance by the enemy in the zones of the Trans-Baikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also made repeated counterattacks. On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi (formerly the last emperor of China).

On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude a truce. But in practice, hostilities on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later, the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender, which began on August 20. But even he did not immediately reach everyone, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to the order.

On August 18, the Kuril landing operation was launched, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands. On the same day, August 18, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, ordered the occupation of the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and then postponed until the instructions of the Headquarters.

Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea. The main fighting on the continent was carried out for 12 days, until August 20. However, individual battles continued until September 10, which became the day the complete surrender and capture of the Kwantung Army ended. The fighting on the islands ended completely on 5 September.

Japan's surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

As a result, the millionth Kwantung Army was completely defeated. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were taken prisoner. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.

As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its composition the territories previously lost by Russia (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and the Far East, subsequently transferred to China), as well as the Kuril Islands, the ownership of the southern part of which is still disputed by Japan.

According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuriles (Chishima Retto). But the treaty did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it.
Negotiations on the southern part of the Kuril Islands are still ongoing, and there are no prospects for a quick resolution of the issue.

The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 is one of the historical events that arouse enduring interest. At first glance, nothing special happened: less than three weeks of fighting in the final stage of the virtually completed World War II. It cannot be compared not only with other wars of the 20th century, but even with such operations of the Second World War as the Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk battles, the Normandy operation, etc.
However, this war left an extremely deep mark in history, remains virtually the only undecoupled node World War II. Its consequences continue to have a strong influence on modern Russian-Japanese relations.

The grouping of Soviet troops in the Far East, deployed by August 1945 on the borders with Manchukuo and in the coastal regions of the USSR, included the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, the Pacific Fleet and the Red Banner Amur Flotilla.

By the beginning of hostilities, Soviet troops had complete superiority over the enemy in manpower, weapons and military equipment. The quantitative superiority of the Soviet troops was reinforced by qualitative characteristics: Soviet units and formations had extensive experience in combat operations against a strong and well-armed enemy, and the tactical and technical data of domestic and foreign military equipment in service were significantly superior to Japanese ones.

By August 8, the grouping of Soviet troops in the Far East totaled 1,669,500 people, and 16,000 people were in the formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army. Soviet troops outnumbered the grouping of enemy troops in different directions: tanks 5-8 times, artillery 4-5 times, mortars 10 or more times, combat aircraft 3 or more times.

The opposing grouping of Japanese and puppet troops of Manchukuo numbered up to 1 million people. Its basis was the Japanese Kwantung Army, which included the 1st, 3rd and 17th fronts, the 4th and 34th separate armies, the 2nd air army and the Sungarian military flotilla. Troops of the 5th Front were stationed on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Along the borders of the USSR and the MPR, the Japanese built 17 fortified areas, numbering more than 4.5 thousand permanent structures. Powerful defensive structures were on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

The defense of the Japanese troops was built taking into account all the benefits of the natural and climatic conditions of the Far Eastern theater of operations. The presence of large mountain systems and rivers with swampy floodplains along the Soviet-Manchurian border created a kind of natural defensive line that was difficult to overcome. On the Mongolian side, the area was a vast waterless semi-desert, uninhabited and almost devoid of roads. The specifics of the Far Eastern theater of operations also consisted in the fact that its vast part was made up of sea basins. Southern Sakhalin was characterized by a complex mountainous and swampy terrain, and most of the Kuril Islands were natural fortresses.

On August 3, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky reported to I.V. Stalin on the situation in the Far East and the state of the troops. Referring to the data of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, the commander-in-chief noted that the Japanese were actively building up the ground and air force grouping of their troops in Manchuria. According to the commander-in-chief, the most acceptable time for crossing the state border was August 9-10, 1945.

The rate determined the date - 18.00 August 10, 1945 Moscow time. However, on the afternoon of August 7, new instructions were received from the Supreme Command Headquarters - to start hostilities exactly two days earlier - at 18.00 on August 8, 1945 Moscow time, that is, at midnight from August 8 to 9, Transbaikal time.

How can you explain the postponement of the start of the war with Japan? First of all, this is seen as the desire to achieve maximum surprise. The Soviet command proceeded from the premise that even if the enemy knew the date set for the start of hostilities, then moving it two days earlier would have a paralyzing effect on the Japanese troops. For the Soviet troops, ready to conduct combat operations as early as August 5, changing the timing of their start was of no fundamental importance. The fact that on August 8 it was exactly three months from the date of signing the act of unconditional surrender of the troops of Nazi Germany could also play a role. Thus, with unprecedented punctuality, Stalin kept his promise to the Allies to start a war with Japan.

But another interpretation of this decision of the Headquarters is also possible, since it was taken immediately after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the Americans. It is likely that Stalin had information about the upcoming bombing of Japanese cities, and the first information about the scale of losses and destruction in Hiroshima forced him to hasten the entry of the USSR into the war because of fears that Japan might capitulate "prematurely".

The original plans also provided for a landing operation on about. Hokkaido, but for some military-political reasons and motives, it was canceled. Not the last role here was played by the fact that US President G. Truman "refused us to do this", that is, to create a Soviet zone of occupation on Hokkaido.

Military operations began, as planned, exactly at midnight Trans-Baikal time from August 8 to 9, 1945 on the ground, in the air and at sea simultaneously on a front with a total length of 5130 km. The offensive unfolded in extremely unfavorable meteorological conditions: on August 8, heavy rains began, which fettered aviation operations. Overflowing rivers, swamps and washed-out roads made it extremely difficult for vehicles, moving parts and formations of the fronts to operate. In order to ensure secrecy, air and artillery preparation for the offensive was not carried out. August 9 at 4:30 a.m. according to local time, the main forces of the fronts were brought into battle. The blow to the enemy was so powerful and unexpected that the Soviet troops almost never met organized resistance. After a few hours of fighting, Soviet troops advanced in different directions from 2 to 35 km.

The actions of the Trans-Baikal Front and the formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army developed most successfully. During the first five days of the war, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced 450 km, crossed the Greater Khingan Range on the move and entered the Central Manchurian Plain a day ahead of schedule. The withdrawal of Soviet troops into the rear of the Kwantung Army in the Khingan-Mukden direction created opportunities for developing the offensive in the direction of the most important military, administrative and industrial centers of Manchuria. All attempts by the enemy to stop the Soviet troops with counterattacks were thwarted.

The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front at the first stage of the Manchurian operation met stubborn resistance from the Japanese troops on the lines of fortified areas. The most fierce battles were fought in the area of ​​the city of Mudanjiang, an important transport center in Manchuria. Only by the end of August 16, the troops of the 1st Red Banner and 5th armies finally took possession of this well-fortified communications junction. The successful actions of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front created favorable conditions for an offensive in the Harbino-Girinsky direction.

The Pacific Fleet operated in close cooperation with the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front. In a change to the original plan, the capture of the most important ports on the coast of Korea was entrusted to the forces of the fleet. On August 11, the port of Yuki was occupied by amphibious assault forces, on August 13 - Rasin, on August 16 - Seishin.

At the first stage of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the 2nd Far Eastern Front had the task of assisting the troops of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts in defeating the Kwantung Army and capturing Harbin. In cooperation with the ships and vessels of the Red Banner Amur Flotilla and the troops of the Khabarovsk Red Banner Border District, units and formations of the front captured the main large islands and several important bridgeheads on the right bank of the river. Amur. The Sungari military flotilla of the enemy was locked up, and the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front were able to successfully develop the offensive along the river. Sungari to Harbin.

Simultaneously with participation in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front launched an offensive operation in southern Sakhalin on August 11, while actively interacting with the northern Pacific military flotilla. The offensive on Sakhalin was carried out in extremely difficult conditions of mountainous, wooded and swampy terrain against a strong enemy, relying on a powerful and extensive system of defensive structures. The fighting on Sakhalin took on a fierce character from the very beginning and continued until August 25th.

On August 19, airborne assault forces landed in the cities of Jilin, Mukden and Changchun. At the airfield in Mukden, Soviet paratroopers captured a plane with the Emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi and his entourage, who were heading to Japan. Soviet airborne assault forces were also landed on August 23 in the cities of Port Arthur and Dairen (Far).

The rapid advance of mobile units of the ground forces, combined with the landing of airborne assault forces in Hamhung and Pyongyang on August 24 and the actions of the Pacific Fleet, led to the fact that by the end of August the entire territory of North Korea up to the 38th parallel was liberated.

On August 18, the troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, in cooperation with the fleet, launched the Kuril landing operation. The islands of the Kuril chain were turned into a chain of impregnable natural fortresses, the central link of which was the island of Shumshu. Bloody battles continued on this island for several days, and only on August 23 the Japanese garrison capitulated. By August 30, all the islands of the northern and central parts of the Kuril chain were occupied by Soviet troops.

On August 28, units of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Northern Pacific Flotilla began to seize the islands of the southern part of the Kurils - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai. The Japanese granisons offered no resistance, and by September 5, all the Kuriles were occupied by Soviet troops.

The power and suddenness of Soviet strikes, the unpreparedness for war of the Kwantung Army and its doom predetermined the transience of the Soviet-Japanese war of 1945. Military operations were of a focal nature and, as a rule, were insignificant in scale and intensity. The Japanese army did not fully show all its strengths. However, at the tactical level, in battles with the Soviet troops, who had absolute superiority over the enemy, the Japanese units were distinguished by fanatical adherence to orders and their military duty, the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice, discipline and organization. Documents testify to numerous facts of fierce resistance by Japanese soldiers and small units, even in hopeless situations. An example of this is the tragic fate of the Japanese garrison of the stronghold on the town of Ostraya in the Khutous fortified area. The ultimatum of the Soviet command to surrender was categorically rejected, the Japanese fought to the end, with the courage of the doomed. After the fighting, the corpses of 500 Japanese soldiers and officers were found in the underground casemates, and next to them were the corpses of 160 women and children, members of the families of Japanese military personnel. Some of the women were armed with daggers, grenades and rifles. Completely devoted to the emperor and their military duty, they deliberately chose death, refusing to surrender and captivity.

Contempt for death was demonstrated by 40 Japanese soldiers who, in one of the sectors of the Trans-Baikal Front, launched a desperate counterattack against Soviet tanks, having no anti-tank weapons.

At the same time, Japanese sabotage groups, suicide squads, lone fanatics were actively operating in the rear of the Soviet troops, the victims of which were Soviet military personnel, and above all commanders and political workers. The terrorist acts carried out by them were distinguished by extreme cruelty and sadism, accompanied by inhuman torture and abuse, desecration of the bodies of the dead.

The role of the Soviet Union in liberation from Japanese enslavement was highly appreciated by the population of Manchuria and Korea, who sent letters of thanks and congratulations to the Soviet military leaders.

By September 1, 1945, virtually all the tasks assigned by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command to the fronts and the Pacific Fleet were completed.

On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender, which marked the end of the Soviet-Japanese War and the end of World War II. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, September 3 was declared "the day of national celebration - the holiday of victory over Japan."

The defeat of the Kwantung Army by the Soviet troops and the liberation of Northeast China decisively changed the balance in favor of the CCP forces, which on August 11 went on the offensive, which lasted until October 10, 1945. During this time, before the arrival of the Kuomintang troops, they saddled the main lines of communication, occupied a number of cities and vast rural areas in northern China. By the end of the year, almost a quarter of China's territory with a population of about 150 million people had passed under the control of the CCP. Immediately after the surrender of Japan, a sharp political struggle flared up in China over the question of how the country should develop further.

With the end of the war in the Far East, the problem arose of summing up its results, identifying and accounting for losses, trophies, and material damage.

According to the Soviet Information Bureau of September 12, 1945, during the period from August 9 to September 9, the loss of the Japanese in killed amounted to over 80 thousand soldiers and officers. In accordance with the views established in Russian historiography, during the Far Eastern campaign of the Soviet troops, the Japanese army lost 83.7 thousand people killed. However, this figure, like all others, is very conditional. It is practically impossible to indicate the exact data of Japan's losses in the war against the USSR in August-September 1945 for a number of objective reasons. In Soviet combat and reporting documents of that time, Japanese losses were estimated; at present, it is impossible to separate the losses of the Japanese army into categories - those killed in battle, those killed by accident (non-combat losses), those who died for various reasons, those who died from the impact of Soviet aviation and navy, missing, etc.; it is difficult to identify among the dead the exact percentage of the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Mongols. In addition, a strict accounting of combat losses was not established in the Japanese army itself, the bulk of Japanese military documents were either destroyed during surrender, or for one reason or another have not survived to this day.

It is also not possible to establish the exact number of Japanese prisoners of war taken by Soviet troops in the Far East. Documents available in the archives of the Main Directorate of the NKVD of the USSR for prisoners of war and internees show that from 608,360 to 643,501 people were registered (according to various sources). Of these, 64,888 people were released directly from the fronts in accordance with the order of the General Staff of the spacecraft to release all prisoners of war of non-Japanese nationality, as well as sick, wounded and long-term disabled Japanese. 15,986 people died in the front-line concentration of prisoners of war. 12,318 Japanese prisoners of war were handed over to the authorities of the MPR; a certain number were transferred to Smersh, fled or were killed during the escapes. The total number of Japanese prisoners who left the register before being taken to the USSR is (according to various sources) from 83,561 to 105,675 people.

The victory of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Far East in September 1945 came at the cost of the lives of many thousands of Soviet servicemen. The total losses of the Soviet troops, taking into account the sanitary ones, amounted to 36,456 people. The formations of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army lost 197 people, of which 72 people were irretrievably lost.
Viktor Gavrilov, military historian, candidate of psychological sciences