Medal table Fortress-Hero Brest, 1965 USSR 7 cm

Cyrillic inscription : In memory of the heroic defense of the Brest fortress 1941

Defense of the Brest Fortress in June 1941 — defensive combat actions of units of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Red Army) against the advancing troops of Nazi Germany, which took place in the area of the Brest Fortress and within the city of Brest. It is one of the first battles of the Great Patriotic War

On June 23, 1941, at 9 a.m., the fortress was surrounded. During the day, the Germans were forced to bring into battle the reserve of the 45th Infantry Division (2nd Battalion of the 135th Infantry Regiment) and the 133rd Infantry Regiment, originally the corps reserve. Also, after the capture of Brest, the 130th Infantry Regiment was withdrawn to the fortress. Thus, the entire 45th Infantry Division was involved in the subsequent siege.

The bulk of the remaining servicemen in the Brest Fortress, deprived of command, did not take part in the fighting and during the first days surrendered en masse. In fact, only a small part of the garrison actively resisted the enemy. The defenders of the fortress spontaneously united into various combat groups, acting for the most part separately. There was no unified command organized. In this regard, the garrison of the fortress missed the opportunity to repel the attacks of the units of the 45th Infantry Division, unlock the exits from the fortress and carry out an organized exit from it, which was quite real.