While the defeat of Nazi Germany is often recalled as a victory won by Western powers, in fact it was Russia that made the largest contribution to defeating Hitler’s war machine – and paid the highest price.
While America lost some 400,000 soldiers fighting the Nazis and Britain fractionally less, the Soviets lost an estimated 12million – though that figure is disputed, even within Russia.
By the same token, it is thought that three-quarters of Nazi troops killed during the conflict died while fighting the Red Army.
Soviet soldiers defend their position against a German advance at Stalingrad
Battles on the Eastern Front dwarfed those being fought in the West.
D-Day was the largest amphibious assault ever launched and involved an estimated 400,000 men in total, fighting on both Allied and Nazi sides.
But by contrast, the Soviet counter-offensive during the Battle of Stalingrad involved more than 2.2million men fighting on both sides.
It is among the bloodiest confrontations in the history of warfare, with between 1.8million and 2million wounded, killed or captured.
Similarly the Battle of Kursk involved 2million troops fighting alongside 6,000 tanks, making it the largest tank battle ever fought.
However, Stalin’s war record remains deeply marred thanks to the persecution of his own people and those in eastern Europe.
While Soviet military losses were high, civilian casualties were higher still.
Estimates of the number of Soviet civilian deaths range from 13million to almost 20million, though are controversial and highly disputed.
In his memoirs, Dwight D. Eisenhower recalled Soviet Marshal Zhukov telling him that the true figure would never be known.
A German soldier inspects at destroyed Russian tank during the Battle of Kursk