Directive Letter to the Military Council of the Southwestern Front, June 26, 1942

Source: Tom 18

Directive Letter to the Military Council of the Southwestern Front

The Stavka of the Supreme Command considers the conduct of the Southwestern Front command to be intolerable. The Southwestern Front command has not only lost the half-encircled troops, but has also failed to take any serious measures to rescue them. The Southwestern Front command has not even attempted to organize a counterstrike to free the encircled units. The entire attention and activity of the command was directed to a single objective: the hasty withdrawal of troops without any effort to strike back at the enemy.

The Stavka draws the attention of the Military Council of the Southwestern Front to the fact that the practice of pulling back to the east, abandoning large cities and important economic regions to the enemy without serious resistance, can no longer be tolerated. Such practice is demoralizing the troops and causing discontent among the population. If this continues, the Stavka will be forced to take the most severe measures.

Stalin