Soviet–Japanese War

The Soviet–Japanese War,[11] known in Mongolia as the Liberation War of 1945,[12] was a military conflict within the Second World War beginning soon after the Soviet declaration of war against Japan on 7 August 1945, followed by the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Soviets and Mongolians ended Japanese control of Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia), northern Korea, Karafuto (South Sakhalin), and the Chishima Islands (Kuril Islands). The defeat of Japan's Kwantung Army helped bring about the Japanese surrender and the termination of World War II.[13][14] The Soviet entry into the war was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender unconditionally, as it was made apparent that the Soviet Union was not willing to act as a third party in negotiating an end to hostilities on conditional terms.[5][15][16][17][18]^{[page needed]}[19][20][21]

Quick facts: Soviet-Japanese War, Date, Location, Result, ... ▼

Soviet-Japanese War
Part of the Pacific Theater and the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II
US and Soviet sailors and seamen celebrating together on VJ Day
Date 7 August – 2 September 1945 (3 weeks and 5 days) Location Manchuria/Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia/Mengjiang, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and northern Korea Result Soviet victory Territorial changes Soviet occupation of Inner Mongolia and Manchuria until 1946 Annexation of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands by the USSR
Belligerents
Soviet Union  Mongolia	Japan  Manchukuo  Mengjiang
Commanders and leaders
Aleksandr Vasilevsky Rodion Malinovsky Kirill Meretskov Maksim Purkayev Alexander Novikov Nikolay Kuznetsov Ivan Yumashev Khorloogiin Choibalsan Lkhagvasuren Jamiyan	Otozō Yamada  Seiichi Kita  Jun Ushiroku  Kiichiro Higuchi  Tsutsumi Fusaki  Puyi  Zhang Jinghui  Demchugdongrub
Units involved
Transbaikal Front 17th Army 36th Army 39th Army 53rd Army 6th Guards Tank Army MPA Cavalry Group 12th Air Army 1st Far Eastern Front 1st Red Banner Army 5th Army 25th Army 35th Army 10th Mechanized Corps 9th Air Army 2nd Far Eastern Front 2nd Red Banner Army 15th Army 16th Army 5th Separate Rifle Corps Chuguevsk Group Amur Military Flotilla NKVD Border Troops 10th Air Army	Kwantung Army First Area Army 3rd Army 5th Army Third Area Army 30th Army 44th Army Independent units 4th Army 34th Army Seventeenth Area Army Fifth Area Army Manchukuo Imperial Army Mengjiang National Army
Strength
Soviet Union: 1,577,225 men[1] 26,137 artillery 1,852 sup. artillery 5,556 tanks and self-propelled artillery 5,368 aircraft Mongolia: 16,000 men[lower-alpha 1]	Japan: c. 1,092,400 men[2][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] Manchukuo: 200,000 troops[4] Mengjiang: 44,000 men[5][1]
Casualties and losses
Soviet and Mongolian: 9,780 killed 911 missing 1,340 non-combat deaths (accidents/disease) 24,425 sanitary losses, including: 19,562 wounded 4,863 sick 36,456 losses altogether of which 30,253 combat losses[6][7]	Japanese sources: 22,300–23,600 killed c. 40,000 wounded[8] Soviet claim: 83,737 killed 20,000 wounded (Manchuria only) < 41,199 captured (19 August)[9][lower-alpha 4][10] 640,000 captured and disarmed (total)