 On 2 December , part of the 258th Infantry Division advanced to within 24 km ( 15 mi ) of Moscow and could see the spires of the Kremlin , but by then the first blizzards had already begun . A reconnaissance battalion also managed to reach the town of Khimki , only about 8 km ( 5 @.@ 0 mi ) away from the Soviet capital . It captured the bridge over the Moscow @-@ Volga Canal as well as the railway station , which marked the farthest eastern advance of German forces . But in spite of the progress made , the Wehrmacht was not equipped for winter warfare , and the bitter cold caused severe problems for their guns and equipment . Furthermore , weather conditions grounded the Luftwaffe from conducting any large @-@ scale operations . Newly created Soviet units near Moscow now numbered over 500 @,@ 000 men , and on 5 December , they launched a massive counterattack as part of the Battle of Moscow that pushed the Germans back over 320 km ( 200 mi ) . By late December 1941 , the Germans had lost the Battle for Moscow , and the invasion had cost the German army over 830 @,@ 000 casualties in killed , wounded , captured or missing in action . 
