Kursk

Introducing Kursk

Set along the Tuskar River, Kursk is a working-class city that's seen more than its fair share of destruction over its 1000-year history. Much of the city has been rebuilt since WWII and stands as an unsightly monument to Soviet urban planning, c 1967. Its importance in WWII is well documented in its museums, and the pride of its stolid residents lives on. Aside from this - and a few attractive churches - Kursk doesn't draw many visitors.

Founded (most likely) in the 9th century, Kursk was destroyed by the Tatars in 1240. It then lay in Lithuanian territory for several centuries before being annexed by Moscow and later emerging as a southern frontier fort in the late 16th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries it became a grain-trade and industrial centre and an important railway junction. But its real fame rests on the nearby Battle of the Kursk Bulge (5 July to 5 August 1943), which was one of the Red Army's most important victories in WWII. German tanks attempting a pincer movement on Kursk - at the time the most forward Soviet-held town on this front - were halted by minefields and then driven back, turning Germany's 1943 counteroffensive into a retreat that saw the Red Army pass the Dnepr River by the end of September.

The Kursk battle sprawled over a wide area, liberating places as far apart as Oryol and Belgorod. A memorial stands beside the Kursk-Belgorod highway, 115km from Kursk and 40km south of Oboyan.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009