On July 18, 1944, the Lublin–Brest Offensive began as part of Operation Bagration

On July 18, 1944, the Lublin–Brest offensive operation began — one of the key parts of the strategic Operation Bagration.

⚔️Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky rapidly broke through enemy defenses. On July 24, the Polish city of Lublin was liberated, and on July 28 — the Soviet city of Brest.

❗️The liberation of Brest and the forts of the Brest Fortress was a symbolic act of retribution for June 1941, when Soviet soldiers fought in the Hero Fortress to the last cartridge.

As a result, Red Army troops reached the western borders of the USSR, completing the expulsion of occupiers from the southwestern lands of Belarus. On the same day, the government of the BSSR moved from Gomel to liberated Minsk.

🎖In honor of the liberation of Brest, a 20-gun artillery salute with 224 guns was fired in Moscow. Forty-seven military units received the honorary title "Brest", 16 — "Lublin", 9 — "Kovel", 12 — "Kobrin". Alongside Red Army soldiers, the 1st Polish Army fought side by side, while Polish partisans struck at the rear of the Wehrmacht.