Romanian armies in the Battle of Stalingrad and the 4th Infantry Divisions were attacked from the east. In order to prevent the Soviet advance between the railroad and the river Don, a new defence line, with its center at Kotelnikovo, was established. In the afternoon, the Soviet troops of the Stalingrad Front met the South-Western Front troops in Sovetsky area, encircling the German forces at Stalingrad. Receiving information about the arrival of a German detachment, the Fourth Romanian Army's commander decided to hold its position. The 6th Corps was on the southern bank of the Aksay River, the 4th Infantry Division from Umansevo to Kotsubayev and the
The Motherland Calls that made it possible to reduce its windage. In 2009, reports said the statue was leaning due to changes in groundwater level causing movement of the foundations. The statue is not fixed to its foundations and is held in place only by its weight. An anonymous official claimed that it had shifted 20 centimetres and was not expected to move much farther without collapsing. A program of monument restoration was developed in 2008–2009, and conservation and restoration work started in 2010. In spring 2017, a comprehensive restoration program of the monument lasting for a year and a half at a