332,000 Soviet Soldiers Died While Defending Moscow In December, 1941

"When I'm asked what was the most memorable event of the past war, I always name the Battle of Moscow." The words that Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov uttered years after the Great Patriotic War /World War II/ were accompanied by a footage of the counteroffensive that Soviet troops launched outside Moscow in December, 1941 and opened a wartime chronicle screened at a grand meeting held in the Moscow House of War Veterans and Armed Forces on Monday. The gathering was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the defeat of German fascist troops outside Moscow. After the colors of units that won the Battle of Moscow were brought into the room, the chief of the Moscow Military District headquarters Colonel General Nikolai Makarov greeted the assembly and recounted the history of preparations for the Battle of Moscow and the counteroffensive of December 5, 1941. Back then, the country lost 332,000 soldiers killed and wounded, but the enemy was defeated and forced to bury its Blitzkrieg plans, thereby encouraging the Soviet Union to battle on until the final victory.