Loev. The Museum of the Battle of the Dnieper

The Loev Museum of the Battle of the Dnieper was opened in 1985 and today its collection includes more than 4,000 exhibits. The exhibition includes not only exhibition halls, but also an outdoor military equipment area located on the banks of the Dnieper River.

Priceless relics are kept in the museum's windows: photographs, documents, combat leaflets, front-line letters and many other exhibits. There is also a rich collection of weapons from the Second World War.

The Loev Museum of the Battle of the Dnieper was established as a branch of the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War in 1984 by decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and its opening took place on May 9, 1985, timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Victory. Since 1990, the museum has received the status of a state museum and has become a structural unit of the Department of Culture of the Loyevsky district executive committee.

The museum consists of one main building, with a demonstration area of 170 m2. The museum has 2 permanent exhibitions and 2 temporary (mobile) exhibitions. The total number of museum items is almost 3,500 pieces, of which most belong to the main collection.

The museum actively organizes cultural events, such as "Shooting Gallery Lasershot" and field trips, as well as organizes recreation at the Dnieper-Braga reservoir.

In addition, the museum conducts research on the following topics:: "The Battle for the Dnieper River in the Gomel region", "Liberation of the settlements of the Loyevsky district by the troops of the 61st and 65th armies of the Central Front", "Partisan struggle in the Loyov region" and "The development of the Loyov region in various historical periods".

The strategic military operations of the Red Army, conducted on the banks of the Dnieper in 1943, played a decisive role in bringing the end of World War II closer. These operations, united under the general name "The Battle of the Dnieper", have forever remained in history as one of the key moments of the war. In honor of this significant military campaign, a museum in the city of Loev was named, where every visitor can touch the heroic past of this area.

The Battle of the Dnieper Museum covers a total area of 170 square meters and has a fund of about 4 thousand exhibits. During its existence, the museum has been visited by more than 150 thousand people. In 2015, in preparation for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, the memorial complex in Loyev was reconstructed and updated, which gave it a new life and relevance.

So, the height of the stele was increased by seven meters, now it is 22 meters, and it was faced with granite, replacing concrete reliefs with bronze ones. In the same year, the Alley of Heroes was opened and the open-air museum of military equipment was replenished, which now includes 12 guns and combat vehicles provided by the Ministry of Defense.

Historians claim that the Battle of the Dnieper in Loyev in the autumn of 1943 was the first point on the way to the successful implementation of the offensive operation "Bagration" under the leadership of Marshal Rokossovsky. The Germans sought to contain the advance of the Soviet troops with the help of the so—called "Eastern Wall" - an impregnable line of layered defense, including trenches, ditches, minefields, wire fences and other obstacles.

On October 15, the troops of the 65th Army under the command of General Batov captured a small bridgehead on the shore occupied by the Germans. This small piece of liberated land increased within two weeks to 20 km deep and 35 km along the front.

10,235 Soviet soldiers died in the Battle of the Dnieper. 365 fighters were awarded the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union for the liberation of Loyivshchyna.