About the book: 2011 / Donbass was one of the most industrially developed regions of the Soviet Union, in which the largest enterprises in the mining, metallurgical, engineering, and chemical industries were concentrated. That is why it became one of the cherished goals of the German Wehrmacht. The natural barrier that allowed the German army to retain the Donetsk region for a long time was the Mius River. The Mius Front is a heavily fortified, deeply echeloned defensive line created by the Germans in December 1941. The defensive line ran along the right, high bank of the river. The enemy took full advantage of the frequent cliffs, heights, ravines and rocks characteristic of this section of the Donetsk Ridge. Overcoming this narrow water barrier became a difficult test for the Soviet troops. Units of the Red Army tried to break through this line several times: from December 1941 to July 1942 and from February to August 1943. But this was only possible in August 1943 during the bloody battles of the Donbass offensive operation of the Southern Front. The work of historian Mikhail Zhirokhov is devoted to analyzing the course of the armed struggle, as well as the peculiarities of the occupation period and the economic significance of the region..