Samland offensive

Samland offensive
Part of Eastern Front of World War II
Date April 13 – April 25, 1945 Location Sambia, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad Oblast) Result Soviet Victory
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Hans Gollnick Dietrich von Saucken	Hovhannes Bagramyan
Units involved
Army Detachment Samland Armee Ostpreußen	Zemland Group of Forces
Casualties and losses
Soviet claim: 80,000 KIA or POW	Unknown

The Samland offensive was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front in the final stages of World War II. It took place in Sambia (German: Samland); (Russian: земланд, romanized: Zemland).

The East Prussian offensive, which commenced on January 13, 1945, had seen the Red Army clear German forces from much of East Prussia. The defenders had been driven into a series of pockets on the Baltic coast and in the city of Königsberg, in which they were besieged.

Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky, who had taken over command of the 3rd Belorussian Front in February, incorporated General Hovhannes Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front into his command from February 22, redesignating it as the Zemland Army Group (or Samland Front).^[1] Bagramyan's forces initially laid siege to Königsberg; the city was eventually stormed on April 9. They were then given the task of overcoming the substantial German force still remaining in Sambia.