The Mga offensive or Third Battle of Lake Ladoga () or fifth Sinyavino offensive was an unsuccessful offensive operation by Soviet troops between 22 July and 25 September 1943 to break the siege of Leningrad. Prelude Leningrad had been surrounded since 8 September 1941. The Soviets had launched several counterattacks in 1941, 1942 and most recently in Spring 1943 with the failed Operation Polar Star. The only success so far had been achieved in January 1943, when during Operation Iskra, a land corridor was opened between Leningrad and the rest of the Soviet Union. However, the land corridor remained within range of German artillery on the Sinyavino Heights, and the Red Army planned a new attack for July 1943. The attack was to be carried out by the 8th Army (Filipp Starikov) of the Volkhov Front (Kirill Meretskov) and the 67th Army (Mikhail Dukhanov) of the Leningrad Front (Leonid Govorov) against the troops of the German 18th Army (Georg Lindemann) of Army Group North (Georg von Küchler). The goal of the operation was to defeat the enemy group in the area of Mga, restore control over the Kirov Railway and ensure a reliable railway connection between Leningrad and the rest of the Soviet Union. The battle On 22 July 1943, at 6:35 a.m., after an hour and a half of artillery fire and a massive air strike, the Soviet troops went on the offensive. The units of the first echelon of the 8th Army immediately managed to capture the first line of defense of the enemy, but the offensive did not advance any further. In late July, the Soviet command brought into battle the 379th and 165th Rifle Divisions, which replaced the 18th and 256th Divisions, but this did not change the situation in favor of the Red Army. The divisions that entered the battle suffered heavy losses, as German units put up fierce resistance and constantly counterattacked. On 12 August, in a renewed attack, the Soviet 8th Army took the strong enemy bridgehead east of the Nasija River near Porechye, but failed to breakthrough towards Mga, despite the introduction into battle of the last reserve of the 8th Army - the 311th Rifle Division. The German command was able to quickly strengthen the defense. For several days, Soviet troops tried to advance further, but did not achieve significant results. The same happened in the northern direction of the front.