In the autumn of 1943, the Red Army planned to carry out a devastating blow to the junction of the two major armies of the Northern and Central Groups on the Soviet-German battlefield, and After much deliberation, Comrade Stalin entrusted this task to Marshal Yelyommenko's Kalinin Front, whose primary target at that time was the transportation hub, Nevel.
Once the railways and roads here could be cut off, the two german army groups would lose the freedom to maneuver their forces towards the junction, and the Red Army could fully establish a new offensive base.
In order to take Nevel, Yelemenko decided to use the right wing of the Kalinin Front to attack the 3rd and 4th Armies. Of these, the Assault 3rd Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Galicki, was under the main attack on Nevel west of Zhigaré, while the Assault 4th Army, commanded by Major General Shvetsov, began an auxiliary assault south of Nevel. Providing air cover was the 3rd Army of the Soviet Air Force.
Yelemenko's 2 armies, facing the right flank of the German 16th Army, as well as the left flank of the 3rd Panzer Army and the 2nd AirField Army of the German Army Group Center, totaled the total strength of 5 divisions. At that time, the Wehrmacht built a very strong defensive line on the lakes, forests, and swamps of Belarus, and also built strong trenches along the lake passes. It was even more difficult for the Red Army to achieve victory.