Photos: Liberation of Stalingrad in World War II

The Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943) is one of the largest battles of the Second World War in terms of scale, duration, and number of participants. The battle radically changed the course of the war and became a harbinger of Soviet victory over the Nazi invaders.

The Red Army was able to deliver a crushing blow to the Wehrmacht at a time when the Third Reich, as it appeared to its leaders, was at the height of its power and controlled the largest territory of the entire theater of war.

In addition to the military success, the victory at Stalingrad led to a psychological turning point in the war: Soviet soldiers believed they could defeat the enemy, and German units began to fear encirclement.

The Soviet troops lost about 480,000 men killed and more than 500,000 wounded in the Battle of Stalingrad. The German army and its allies lost about 1.5 million men.

Explore Sputnik's photo gallery covering the Soviet Union's great victory over the German invaders in Stalingrad!

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Stalingrad, January 31, 1943. "The city is free!"

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Ruins of Stalingrad during the Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943)

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Soviet soldiers during street fighting in Stalingrad.

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Stalingrad, December 1942. At the communications center. Communication girl.

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Battle of Stalingrad. Residents of the city seek refuge in the destroyed city after a massive raid by Nazi aircraft.

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Photo showing tanks left by German army after they lost the Battle of Stalingrad. The Battle was fought during the winter of 1942 to 1943, and won by the Red Army over German invaders.

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Portrait of Nastya, a Red army partisan, taken by war photographer Boris Yaroslavtsev, in 1943, during the Battle of Stalingrad. The Battle was fought during the winter of 1942 to 1943, and won by the Red Army over German invaders.

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A musician on the street of destroyed Stalingrad.

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This is what the city center looked like at the end of the Battle of the Volga.

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Alexander Rodimtsev, Major General, Hero of the Soviet Union (3rd on the right), commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Division, which particularly distinguished itself among the soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad.

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Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft fly on a combat mission near Stalingrad.

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Column of captured Germans. Stalingrad.

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In this file photo taken in Feb. 19, 1943, German and other Axis soldiers captured at Stalingrad, Russia, huddle against sharp winds.

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One of the numerous hollows in the plains around Stalingrad, Russia on Nov. 10, 1942, which, after capture by German troops, is now used as an artillery position

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The population of Stalingrad greets the liberators.

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Russian troops clear a road of snow so that their unit could advance, northwest of Stalingrad, Jan. 4, 1943.

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A school building destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad.

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Two Axis soldiers, with their hands held above their heads, are marched out of a battered building by one of their Russian captors as German soldiers are evicted from Stalingrad on Jan. 25, 1943 during World War II.