Battle of Kursk Battle of Stalingrad slowly ground to its conclusion, the Red Army moved to a general offensive in the south, pressuring the exhausted German forces who had survived the winter. By January 1943, a wide gap had opened between Army Group B and Army Group Don, and the advancing Soviet armies threatened to cut off all German forces south of the Don River, including Army Group A operating in the Caucasus. Army Group Center came under significant pressure as well. Kursk fell to the Soviets on 8 February 1943, and Rostov fell on 14 February. The Soviet Bryansk, Western, and newly
Kursk Oblast birth rates and immigration. According to a 2012 survey 68.7% of the population of Kursk Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, 24% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 4% is atheist, and 3.3% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question. Slavic tribes of the Severians inhabited the area. From 830 the Kursk was part of the Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus' states. Although territory of Kursk Oblast had been populated since the end of the last Ice Age, information about the cities was scanty until 1596 when the