Battle of Kursk a series of counterstrokes into the flanks of the Soviet armoured formations, with the goal of destroying them while retaking Kharkov and Kursk. The II SS Panzer Corps had arrived from France in January 1943, refitted and up to near full strength. Armoured units from the 1st Panzer Army of Army Group A had pulled out of the Caucasus and further strengthened Manstein's forces. The operation was hastily prepared and did not receive a name. Later known as Third Battle of Kharkov, it commenced on 21 February, as 4th Panzer Army under General Hoth launched a counter-attack. The German forces
Theotokos of Kursk Theotokos of Kursk The Kursk Root Icon of the Sign (also Our Lady of Kursk) (, Bogomater Kurskaya Korennaya, literally "Theotokos of Kursk, Found Among the Roots") is an icon of Theotokos of the Sign, apparently painted in the thirteenth century and discovered in a forest near Kursk ca. 1300. The icon was preserved in the Black Hermitage of the Roots ("Chornaya Korennaya Pustyn"), an abbey founded on the spot of its discovery. It was regularly brought from the abbey to Kursk in a great procession involving thousands of peasants and pilgrims. This ceremony is depicted in the famous painting