Making the Presentation, Ms. Maria B. Pavlova, Senior Executive and Programme Co-ordinator, RCSC, said that during the crucial phase of World War II an important aim for the Nazi Germans was to get dominance in the Black Sea by catching port Sevastopol, the main Soviet naval base there, adding that the heroic resistance of Soviet soldiers against superior enemy forces became known as the "Battle of Sevastopol"-fought from October 30, 1941 to July 4, 1942. Sevastopol met enemy forces many a time and has a glorious war history. During the Crimean War, there was the famous Siege of Sevastopol. The famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy described the heroism of Russian soldiers during the siege in his "Stories of Sevastopol".
The defence of Sevastopol was provided mainly by the Black Sea Fleet and the Maritime Army. The first attempt of the German assault, consisting of two infantry divisions and one motorized brigade, tried to burst into the city from the north, north-east and east. For example, on November 7, 1941, four soldiers of the Soviet Marine Corps were cited for disabling 10 German tanks. On November 11, 60,000 Nazi soldiers launched another attack, but after 10 days, were forced to stop. Later the Wehrmacht began a five-day artillery barrage of the city, which included toxic gas, to get the Russians out of their caves and bunkers. However, by January 4, 1942, almost every Axis unit was stopped again by Soviet counter-attacks.
On May 21, the Germans launched massive bombardment of the city. The city fell on June 29. Despite Sevastopol's fall, it was a great waste of time for Germans. Heroic resistance of Soviet soldiers during the battle of Sevastopol kept there huge German forces and this finally led to the glorious victory of the Soviet Army in the battle of Stalingrad, which predetermined the defeat of the Nazi Germany in World War II.
