The –BotoșUman–Botoșani offensive or Uman–Botoshany offensive () was a part of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, carried out by the Red Army in the western Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the German 8th Army of Army Group South during World War II. Led by Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev, it became one of the most successful Red Army operations of the whole war. In over a month of combat through the deep spring mud and numerous water barriers, the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced over , cleared German forces from southwestern Ukraine, and entered Romania and Moldova.
This offensive, alongside Marshal Georgy Zhukov's great slicing blow, split the Wehrmacht's Army Group South into two parts, north and south of the Carpathian Mountains. The northern portion was pushed back into Galicia in Poland, while the southern portion was pushed back into Romania. On 5 April 1944, the northern portion was renamed Army Group North Ukraine, while the southern portion became Army Group South Ukraine, although very little of Ukraine remained in German hands.
As a result of this split, the Soviets had cut the main supply lifeline of Army Group South, the Lviv–Odessa railway. Now, the southern group of German forces would have to use the long roundabout route through the Balkans, with all of the supplies being rerouted over the Romanian railroads, which were in poor condition.
For the Wehrmacht's defeat, the commander of Army Group South, Erich von Manstein, and the commander of Army Group A, Ewald von Kleist, were dismissed by Adolf Hitler and replaced by Walter Model and Ferdinand Schörner, respectively.
In the course of the operation, 10 German divisions were either destroyed or left with only remnants of their troops. In order to save its southern sector from complete collapse, the German high command was forced to transfer seven divisions from the neighboring German 6th Army in the south to the disintegrating front of the 8th Army, while also mobilizing the Romanian 4th Army, which consisted of eight divisions and one brigade, with another seven Romanian divisions and two Romanian brigades being incorporated directly into the German 8th Army.
This was the only operation in which the Red Army crossed six major rivers – the Gornyi Tikich, the Southern Bug, the Dniester, the Răut, the Prut, and the Siret – one after another.
Operational scope and goals
The operation was conducted by the forces of 2nd Ukrainian Front from 5 March to 17 April 1944. The purpose of the operation was to inflict a crushing defeat on the German "Uman group", split the troops of Army Group South, and capture southwestern Ukraine. After the completion of the Korsun–Shevchenkovsky offensive, the main forces of 2nd Ukrainian Front (Marshal Konev) were opposed by the 8th Army of Army Group South (Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein). At the start of the operation, Soviet troops had achieved a 1.5-to-1 numerical superiority in personnel and armor and 2.5-to-1 in artillery, while maintaining parity in aviation forces against their German adversaries.
Planning
The Stavka concept of the operation was to destroy the 8th Army, bisect the front of Army Group South, and cut off withdrawal routes of the 1st Panzer Army in the southern direction, contributing to 1st Ukrainian Front's objective of its defeat.
The main offensive effort was to be delivered from the staging areas at Vinograd, Zvenyhorodka, and Shpola in the direction of Uman by forces of the 27th, 52nd, 4th Guards Combined Arms Armies, 2nd, 5th Guards and 6th Tank Armies (415 tanks and 147 SPAs), supported by the 5th Air Army. The 7th and 5th Guards Armies delivered supporting attacks from the region of Kirovograd in the direction of Novoukrainka. During preparation for the operation, the military councils of the Front and armies gave considerable attention the mobilisation of personnel and unit composition for overcoming of the difficulties due to rasputitsa, the generally poor weather conditions, and the need for conducting numerous assault river crossings that were expected to hinder operational mobility.