A rally dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet troops over the fascist troops in the Battle of Stalingrad will take place in the Tajik capital on February 2.

The press service of the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe says the Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Semyon Grigoryev has met with heads of Dushanbe-based veterans’ organizations to discuss their participation in the forthcoming event that is expected to take place in the Victory Park in Dushanbe .   

The Battle of Stalingrad (August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later renamed Volgograd) in Southern Russia.  The battle was marked by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, with the battle epitomizing urban warfare.  The Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest battle to take place during the Second World War, and is one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with an estimated 2 million total casualties.

Today, the Battle of Stalingrad is universally regarded as the turning point in the European Theatre of war, as it forced the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command) to withdraw considerable military forces from other areas in occupied Europe to replace German losses on the Eastern Front.  The victory at Stalingrad energized the Red Army and shifted the balance of power in the favor of the Soviets.