Fighting in the Area of the Village of Kurinskaya in August 1942: according to the Memoirs of Eyewitnesses and Documents

The article examines the course of defensive combat operations conducted by units of the 18th Army and the 17th Cavalry Corps in the area of the village of Kurinskaya at the end of the summer of 1942. The signifi cance of the defense of this settlement is determined in the context of the general situation in the Tuapse direction. The village of Kurinskaya and the adjacent territory were important for the further advance of the enemy in the direction of Tuapse, a large cargo seaport and industrial center. The MaykopTuapse highway, as well as the Armavir-Tuapse railway line, passed through the village of Kurinskaya. In 1942, these roads were
the only major transport arteries along which the enemy could reach the Black Sea coast.
Based on identifi ed documents of military units and formations from the funds of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as well as personal sources, the exact chronology of military operations has been restored. The
principles were applied throughout the research process. historicism and systematicity, chronological, historical-comparative and historical-genetic methods, as well as methods of logical analysis. The author determined the possible dates for the start of the first military clashes in the area of the populated area and gave a general description of individual military operations. He pointed out the problems of studying them. At the end of the article, a conclusion is drawn about the reasons for the failure of the off ensive of Wehrmacht units in this direction in the summer of 1942. The successful actions of the Soviet troops were the result of good organization of defense and the transfer of new formations to this area.