The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Odessa was a port on the Black Sea in the Ukrainian SSR. On 22 June 1941, the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union. In August, Odessa became a target of the Romanian 4th Army and elements of the German 11th Army. Due to the heavy resistance of the Soviet 9th Independent Army and the rapidly formed Separate Coastal Army, supported by the Black Sea Fleet, it took the Axis forces 73 days of siege and four assaults to take the city. Romanian forces suffered 93,000 casualties, against Red Army casualties estimated to be between 41,000 and 60,000. Prelude On 9 July 1941, the Primorskaya Army was created from the units of the Maritime Group of Forces. On 22 July 1941, the bombing of Odessa began (groups of bombers twice raided the city on that day). As a result of the breakthrough of the Soviet defense on the Dniester River by the 11th German and the 4th Romanian Armies, the situation in the Odessa direction became more complicated. In early August 1941 the troops of the 4th Romanian Army, commanded by General Nicolae Ciupercă (5 infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions and one motorized brigade), cut off the units of the Maritime Army (two rifle divisions and the 1st Cavalry Division) from the main forces of the Southern Front. Subsequently, it was the 4th Romanian Army that was the main attacking force in the fight for Odessa. In addition to the Romanian troops, the 72nd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht (in part), 2 German assault and 4 German engineer battalions, 3 German heavy artillery divisions, and periodically Luftwaffe units were also involved near Odessa. By early September the total number of German-Romanian troops near Odessa was about 277,000 soldiers and officers, up to 2,200 guns and mortars, 100–120 tanks, and 300 to 400 planes. Battle The defense of Odessa lasted 73 days, from 5 August to 16 October 1941. On 10 August, in the sector of the 3rd Corps, the bulk of the 7th Infantry Division reached Elssas, while the 1st Guard Division arrived on the alignment Strassburg–Petra Evdokievka. In the sector of the 5th Corps, the 1st Armored Division broke through Odessa's