Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda (Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Операция Полярная звезда, Operatsia Polyarnaya Zvezda; English translation: Operation Polar Star) was an operation conducted by the Soviet Leningrad

Leningrad Front

The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...

, Volkhov

Volkhov Front

The Front was reformed on the 9 June 1942 from the Volkhov Operational Group of the Leningrad Front and served until 15 February 1944, participating in the relief of the Siege of Leningrad and taking part in other operations including:-Campaigns:...

 and Northwestern Fronts in February and March 1943. The operation was planned in the wake of the successful Operation Iskra. The operation was planned by Georgy Zhukov and envisaged two separate encirclements. One to be carried out in the north by the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts near Mga and further south, by the Northwestern Front, near Demyansk.

The operation succeeded in recapturing Demyansk salient but failed to encircle the German forces. The northern part of the operation failed, without gaining much ground altogether. With the battles south near Kharkov

Third Battle of Kharkov

The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...

 and, later, Kursk

Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...

using reinforcements for both sides, the frontline near Leningrad stabilised until July 1943