"In the run-up to celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi troops in the Battle of Stalingrad in 2018, the Russian Defense Ministry’s official website has launched a multimedia section featuring unique archival documents reflecting the initial stage of that bloody battle during the Great Patriotic War. Documents from the Russian Defense Ministry’s Central Archive that have been declassified recently will tell website visitors about the unprecedented heroism of city defenders, about steps taken to rescue the population and evacuate the industrial equipment," the ministry said.

KUBINKA /Moscow region/, August 25. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has made public historical documents related to the Battle of Stalingrad during the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, the ministry reported on Friday.

According to the Russian Defense Minsitry, a handwritten text of a telegram of Don Front Commander, Colonel-General Konstantin Rokossovsky, to the Supreme Command Headquarters about capturing Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th German Army, will be published for the first time.

The website also features German command’s documents on the course of the fighting and the Red Army units that confronted German troops in Stalingrad.

"The materials summarizing the unique experience of Stalingrad’s defenders will be of interest to website visitors. One of the documents posted on this website is a detailed description of the fighting by assault teams operating in the city. They were established for the first time in the Red Army units, which defended Stalingrad," the ministry noted.

The documents posted on the ministry’s official website are also available to the participants in the Army-2017 International Military-Technical Forum. The Russian Defense Ministry’s Central Archive prepared and demonstrated at the forum a selection of unique archival documents dating back to the WWII era.