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Battle of Vuosalmi
Part of Continuation War
Date July 4 1944 – July 11 1944 Location Karelian Isthmus, Finland Result Finnish victory
Combatants
Finland	Soviet Union
Strength
30,000	60,000
Casualties
795 killed in action 4,976 wounded 754 missing	15,000+ killed in action

Continuation War
Silberfuchs – Hanko – Uhtua-Kiestinki – Repola-Rukajärvi – Porlammi – 1st Tuulos – Suursaari – Fourth strategic offensive – Valkeasaari – Kuuterselkä – Siiranmäki – Tali-Ihantala – 2nd Kollaa – Syväri – Bay of Viipuri – Vuosalmi – 2nd Tuulos – Nietjärvi – Ilomantsi

Main article: Continuation war

The Battle of Vuosalmi (also known as the Battle of Äyräpää-Vuosalmi) – the main bulk of it – lasted from July 4 to July 11, 1944. It was a battle during the World War II, a part of the Continuation War (1941–1944) between Finland and the Soviet Union, which was a separate war from WW2.

The Continuation War is widely perceived as a continuation for the Finnish-Soviet Winter War (1939–1940), a Stalin's attempt to occupy Finland, based on the so called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed between Stalin and Hitler in 1939.

After the Soviets saw that they had failed in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala against the Finnish defenders in the late June and early July 1944, they tried to break the Finnish positions in Vuosalmi and encircle the southern part of the Finnish forces in the Karelian Isthmus.

The Finnish positions were very unfavourably located in the ridge of Äyräpää, with the wide River Vuoksi behind. The Red Army 115th Corps soon forced the Finns across the river, but despite of the fields on the other side, which were advantageous to the Soviet armor, the Finns were able to stop all further Soviet advances.

The depleted Finnish Armoured Division was sent to help the Finnish 2nd Division, as the situation in Ihantala had become more stable. In somewhat simultaneous battles the Soviet Red Army had suffered massive losses on the Karelian Isthmus, with more than 15 000 Soviet soldiers buried in the nearby ridge of Äyräpää alone.

The following Finnish counter attacks at this point in Vuosalmi amounted to not much success either and thus both sides were on defensive here in mid-July 1944.

The Finnish artillery shot altogether over 122 000 rounds of fire in Äyräpää and Vuosalmi from June 20 to July 17, 1944 – same as in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala which took place during the same time period in a near vicinity on the relatively narrow Karelian Isthmus of Finland.fi:Äyräpään-Vuosalmen taistelut