On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched their invasion of the Soviet Union. On July 3, Joseph Stalin made his public statement over the radio calling for a scorched earth policy in the areas to be abandoned. In North Estonia, the Soviet destruction battalions had the greatest impact, being the last Baltic territory captured by the Germans. Pro-independence Forest Brothers, numbering 12,000, attacked the forces of the NKVD and the 8th Army (Major General Ljubovtsev). The fight against Forest Brothers and the implementation of the scorched earth tactics were accompanied by terror against the civilian population, which was treated as supporters or shelterers of the insurgents. Destruction battalions burnt down farms and some small boroughs. In turn, the members of the extermination battalions were at risk of reprisals by the anti-Soviet partisans.