Combat operations of Soviet troops against Norwegian collaborators within the SS Division “Nordland” during the initial stage of the Krasnoselskoye-Ropshinskaya offensive operation (January 1944)

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to reconstruct the history of combat operations of Soviet troops against Norwegian collaborators incorporated into the 11th SS Division “Nordland” during the initial stage of the Krasnoselskoye-Ropshinskaya operation (January 1944). The article provides data on the strength, structure, and combat record of this formation, as well as its deployment site on the Soviet-German front. The general strategic situation near Leningrad in the winter of 1944 is characterized. The scientific novelty lies in the utilization of archival materials from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation previously unexamined by researchers, as well as in a comprehensive reconstruction – based on their analysis – of understudied aspects in domestic historical science regarding the combat operations of the units of the 2nd Shock Army against Norwegian volunteers serving in Waffen-SS units, set against the broader backdrop of the initial stage of the Krasnoselskoye-Ropshinskaya operation. As a result of the study, the general military characteristics and conditions of deployment of the 11th SS Division “Nordland” on the Soviet-German front in early 1944 were determined. Furthermore, the history of battles fought by Soviet troops near Leningrad in the area of the villages of Gostilitsy, Dyatlitsy, and Kozheritsy was reconstructed. These battles culminated in the defeat of individual sub-units of the Waffen-SS formation composed, among others, of Norwegians, and the retreat of the remaining forces of the 11th SS Division “Nordland” deep into the enemy’s defense line.

Research materials

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: July 14, 2026.
• Published: August 11, 2026.

Keywords

• Великая Отечественная война
• Красносельско-Ропшинская операция
• 2-я Ударная армия
• 11-я дивизия СС «Нордланд»
• норвежский военный коллаборационизм
• Great Patriotic War
• Krasnoselskoye-Ropshinskaya operation
• 2nd Shock Army
• 11th SS Division “Nordland”
• Norwegian military collaborationism

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