Lake Onega Lake Onega Lake Onega (also known as Onego, ; or ; or ; or ) is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga. The lake is fed by about 50 rivers and is drained by the Svir River. There are about 1,650 islands on the lake. They include Kizhi, which hosts a historical complex of 89 orthodox wooden churches and other wooden constructions
Finnish reconquest of Ladoga Karelia (1941) had already reached the shore of lake Ladoga at Lahdenpohja and cut the Soviet divisions north-west of lake Ladoga from their intended withdrawal routes. Near Sortavala the attacking Finnish forces of 2nd, 7th and 19th division were reorganized into the I Army Corps and the town fell to the Finnish forces on August 15. The defending Soviet forces of the 168th Rifle Division withdrew along the coast but were encircled. The Soviets managed to evacuate most of the manpower on barges over the lake Ladoga. Finns captured large amounts of war material that the Soviets had not been able to