By the end of 1943, on the Eastern Front of the World War II, after Stalingrad, the Don operations, Kursk and the second recapture of Kharkov, the Soviet army managed to regain control of half of the territories it had lost until then, and the southern sector of the long Easter front line stretched in the middle of Ukraine, roughly along the Dnieper River. The next major Soviet offensive in the south began in late December 1943. It was during these operations that the Germans deployed a special heavy armored formation, which uniquely was composed only of Tiger and Panther tanks. This took place in January of 1944, when two Panzer battalions were temporarily deployed as a regimental unit subordinated to the staff of the German 11th Panzer Regiment in the Vinnytsia area. Under the command of Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Franz Bäke, this heavy Panzer regiment engaged Soviet forces (mainly tank and mechanized troops) in two operations. These clashes are considered to be among the most fiercest in the history of the Eastern Front.