Belgorod occupied Belgorod from 25 October 1941 to 9 February 1943. The Germans re-captured it on 18 March 1943 in the final move of the Third Battle of Kharkov. On 12 July 1943, during the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in world history took place near Prokhorovka, and Red Army definitively retook the city on 5/6 August 1943. The Belgorod Diorama is one of the World War II monuments commemorating the event. In 1954 the city became the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast. From this time the rapid development of the city as a regional center began. Belgorod is
Bombing of Königsberg in World War II Königsberg. Eleven Pe-8 bombers attacked the city on 1 September 1941. The Soviets did not lose a single bomber in the raid. The Soviet Air Force bombed the city again on 26 July 1942, 27 August 1942 and 15 July 1943. On the night of 28 April 1943, a bomber dropped an 11,000 pounder on the city's area, the largest bomb in the Soviet inventory. No. 5 Group carried out the first RAF attack on Königsberg on the night of 26/27 August 1944, using 174 Avro Lancasters. The target, which was at the extreme range for the planes, demanded a