Battle of Stalingrad away from the oil-rich Caucasus, which had been Hitler's original grand-strategic objective. The Royal Romanian Air Force was also involved in the Axis air operations at Stalingrad. Starting 23 October 1942, Romanian pilots flew a total of 4,000 sorties, during which they destroyed 61 Soviet aircraft. The Romanian Air Force lost 79 aircraft, most of them captured on the ground along with their airfields. After three months of slow advance, the Germans finally reached the river banks, capturing 90% of the ruined city and splitting the remaining Soviet forces into two narrow pockets. Ice floes on the Volga now prevented
The Sun Shines over Our Motherland The Sun Shines over Our Motherland The Sun Shines over Our Motherland «Над Родиной нашей солнце сияет» (Op.90) is a Russian-language cantata written in 1952 by Dimitri Shostakovich on a libretto by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky. Originally titled "Cantata About the Party", it was commissioned to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the October Revolution. In it, the sun is a metaphor for the achievement of the Soviet people under the leadership of the Communist Party. It begins with a lyrical section for boys' chorus and woodwind, followed by a more energetic section for the men's voices. The finale is a triumphant hymn,