Fighter Battalions of the Leningrad Region Defending the City During the Summer of 1941 — Spring of 1942

Abstract

The Great Patriotic War became not only the most tragic event in modern Russian history, but also a test for the state system of the USSR, which underwent a number of changes after the outbreak of war. Among other things, the war also affected structures subordinate to the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD). New irregular units were created in the NKVD structure, the so-called fighter battalions designed to protect the Red Army’s near rear and to maintain order in the frontline zone. The article explores issues related to the formation and application of these units in one of the most difficult sections of the Soviet-German front, the Leningrad front. In particular, the process of creating fighter battalions in this region is studied, the level of their material support, and how these units were used in conditions of the German army’s rapid attack on Leningrad and how they were used somewhat later during the siege. The source base includes previously unpublished documents from the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of the city of St. Petersburg and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. An analysis allows not only a comprehensive study of the above problems, but also possible answers to one of the little-studied questions of the history of the Great Patriotic War: how the Soviet command used irregular military formations at the first stage of the war and what role they played in achieving victory.