Lyuban Offensive Operation

Lyuban Operation (7 January 1942 - 30 April 1942) (Russian: Любанская наступательная орерация) was an offensive operation conducted by the Volkhov Front of the Red Army with the goal of relieving Leningrad. The offensive used no tanks because of the terrain, therefore it was down to the infantry and the artillery. The Russians attacked but they were under intense fire from formidable German defensive positions, and the Soviets lacked proper artillery support on the German positions. The offensive had been stalled and the Soviets were up to the defensive. Field marshal Gunter von Kluge, counterattacked with an operation called 'Wild beast and the Soviet 2nd Shock Army was cut off and surrounded. It was destroyed in June 1942 and its commander Andrey Vlasov was taken captive.