winter offensive

The winter campaign of 1941–1942, also known as The Winter Offensive, was the name given by Soviet military command to the period from 5 December 1941 to 7 May 1942 that marked the commencement of the Moscow Strategic Offensive Operation (better known as the Battle of Moscow) against Nazi Germany in World War II.

The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Adolf Hitler's attack on Moscow, the capital and largest city of the Soviet Union. Moscow was one of the primary military and political objectives for the Axis forces in their invasion of the Soviet Union.

The opening phase of the Red Army strategic counter-offensive operations in the Soviet Union was a major albeit costly Soviet victory.