Abstract
The article analyzes the offensive operations of the Red Army in 1942-1943, deployed on the territory of Smolensk region. The battles in the western strategic direction during this period are considered in the general context of a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. Attention is focused on the economic and political factors that determine the strategy of the Soviet high command in planning large-scale military operations against the Nazi Army Group Center. There were revealed the causes and consequences of an incorrect assessment of the state and potential capabilities of the enemy troops on the eve of the general offensive on the Soviet-German front in January 1942. The distinctive features of the operations of the Red Army in the central, Moscow direction, during which Smolensk region was liberated (within the borders until 1944, taking into account the territories later transferred to Kaluga and Kalinin regions). Using the example of changes in the number of personnel and equipment of the Western and Kalinin Fronts, a gradual build-up of superiority over the enemy troops holding the Rzhev-Vyazma ledge - a bridgehead for an attack on Moscow along the shortest route is shown. The article reveals the gradual process of the transition of the strategic initiative to the Soviet army in this sector of the Soviet-German front.
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