title: Rafael Barba

text: In the season 18 episode "Know It All," Barba suddenly recuses himself from the investigation of rape/murder suspect David Willard (Chris Diamantopoulos), for whom Benson has requested a search warrant, and does not tell her the reason for his choice. Benson gets the warrant from another ADA, and a search of Willard's office turns up a disposable cell phone. One of its received calls is from a young girl, who proves to have a connection to Barba; her mother, a heroin addict, had been a witness in one of his cases years earlier. He had paid the mother to secure her testimony, knowing she would use the money to buy drugs, and she later died of an overdose. Barba started sending money to the daughter every month, and realizes that Willard must have hacked into his bank account in order to use this information against him. The episode ends with Barba uncertain about his future in the DA's office; in the next episode, "The Newsroom", he is back in the courtroom, telling Benson that he has just finished serving a suspension.


title: Rafael Barba

text: Barba leaves the DA's office midway through the nineteenth season, in the episode "The Undiscovered Country." His regrets over having left his comatose father on life support lead him to disconnect the life support system for Drew Householder, an infant in a persistent vegetative state whose parents have been feuding about whether to end the child's life. DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) insists on prosecuting him for murder. Although he is acquitted, Barba decides that it is time to move on, after 21 years as a prosecutor. He is replaced by (Philip Winchester).


title: Rafael Barba

text: Barba is later seen in the 21st season episode "Redemption in Her Corner", video chatting with Benson while he is investigating voter fraud in Iowa. He wishes Benson an early happy birthday and promises to meet up with her in New York at a later time. Barba is next seen in the 22nd season episode "Sightless in a Savage Land", having returned to New York to work with the Innocence Project. Benson and Tutuola ask him for help negotiating a lenient plea bargain for a military veteran charged with murdering his daughter's rapist. He meets with Carisi, who has since become an ADA, and who refuses to discuss a plea deal unless Barba himself defends the veteran. Barba agrees, and he and Carisi end up competing against each other in the courtroom. After the veteran is found guilty of manslaughter, Barba has a friendly drink with Carisi and leaves to visit his mother before she goes to Florida. On the way out, he bumps into Benson, who notes that he used his defense for the client more as a way to find redemption for euthanizing Drew. Barba responds that he is still trying to find a way to move on from his past. After affirming that they miss each other, the two wish each other a Happy New Year.


title: Rafael Barba

text: In the 23rd season episode "People vs. Richard Wheatley", Barba angers both Benson and her former partner, Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), by defending mobster Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott), the man who ordered the murder of Stabler's wife Kathy (Isabel Gillies). During the trial, he argues that the NYPD framed Wheatley, and casts doubt on the prosecution's case by questioning Stabler about his PTSD and his relationship with Wheatley's ex-wife Angela (Tamara Taylor). After Benson tells Barba how betrayed she feels by his actions, Barba realizes that he has gone too far, and declines Wheatley's offer to become his "consigliere" after the trial. After a mistrial occurs with the jury deadlocked, Barba appears in the spin-off series "" episode "The Christmas Episode", in which he visits Wheatley in prison to inform him that the murder charges are being dropped and that he is being released from prison. Though Wheatley asks Barba to reconsider his offer, Barba still refuses to associate with the crime boss any further.


title: Rafael Barba

text: Barba next appears in the 23rd season finale, "A Final Call at Florini's Bar". Benson, who has not spoken to Barba in months, reluctantly asks him to represent a woman who killed her abusive husband after seeing that the woman's public defender is not up to the task. Barba agrees, and once again faces off against Carisi in court. Barba manages to prove that the woman's actions were motivated by brain trauma she suffered as a result of her husband's abuse, winning an acquittal and getting her help from social services. While Barba wins the case, however, his relationship with Benson is still strained. He meets with her for a drink, and they have an emotional conversation in which she says that she is still hurt by his decision to represent Wheatley, while he says that she is letting her emotional ties to Stabler cloud her judgment. While they do not part as friends, however, they admit that they miss each other. Showrunner Julie Martin, in an interview for Today, said that she did not want the last scene between Barba and Benson to imply a romantic connection between Benson and Barba but a deep, platonic love as friends.


title: Rafael Barba

text: Raúl Esparza was approached by "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" Executive Producer Warren Leight to appear in the series as an Assistant District Attorney. Leight had previously worked with Esparza in the 2012 Broadway production "Leap of Faith" and Leight insisted on writing a character for Esparza that would complement his acting strengths, "because he wanted to keep working together". He initially had reservations about accepting the role, as he didn't believe that it would satisfy him as much as his stage work did, and was concerned that television acting required a different set of skills. However, Esparza believed the role would offer him "recovery" time from the "Leap of Faith" Broadway production, which "fell apart". He signed up for the role, as "it was the best time to step away from a place where my heart was broken".


title: Rafael Barba

text: Prior to being cast as Barba in "SVU", Esparza appeared in a 2009 episode of "", in which he portrayed an ADA with a dark secret, and a 2010 episode of "Law & Order", in which he portrayed a tabloid journalist.


title: Rafael Barba

text: On July 12, 2013, it was announced that Esparza would join the main cast as Barba, in the series' . On the promotion, Leight said, "Making him [Esparza] a series regular is a small way of acknowledging his enormous contribution to our show". Barba is the first regular ADA on the series since Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) in the , and the first male.


title: Rafael Barba

text: In the thirteenth episode of , Esparza departed the cast. He chose to leave the role, saying "I've done six seasons, I felt like it was time to go. I had explored a lot of what I thought Barba was about. I just felt it was time to move on."


title: Rafael Barba

text: "The New Yorker" television critic Emily Nussbaum praised Esparza's portrayal of the character, stating that, "[Esparza] is a major asset as the dandyish A.D.A. Rafael Barba".


title: Rafael Barba

text: According to Esparza, Barba's "flashy, high-fashion suits ... and snappy suspenders" are popular online, with Kate Stanhope of "TV Guide" adding that the character's "designer duds have been a hit with fans".


title: Rafael Barba

text: Esparza has been credited in 119 episodes of "SVU" (appearing in 90) as Barba, making him the 2nd longest serving ADA in the "Law & Order" franchise history after Jack McCoy.


title: Pi Day

text: Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14 in the "month/day" format) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant figures of . It was founded in 1988 by Larry Shaw, an employee of the San Francisco, California science museum, the Exploratorium. Celebrations often involve eating pie or holding pi recitation competitions. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day. UNESCO's 40th General Conference designated Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics in November 2019. Alternative dates for the holiday include July 22 (22/7, an approximation of) and June 28 (6.28, an approximation of 2 or tau).


title: Pi Day

text: In 1988, the earliest known official or large-scale celebration of Pi Day was organized by Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where Shaw worked as a physicist, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The Exploratorium continues to hold Pi Day celebrations.


title: Pi Day

text: On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (), recognizing March 14, 2009, as National Pi Day. For Pi Day 2010, Google presented a Google Doodle celebrating the holiday, with the word Google laid over images of circles and pi symbols; and for the 30th anniversary in 2018, it was a Dominique Ansel pie with the circumference divided by its diameter.


title: Pi Day

text: The entire month of March 2014 (3/14) was observed by some as "Pi Month". In the year 2015, March 14 was celebrated as "Super Pi Day". It had special significance, as the date is written as 3/14/15 in month/day/year format. At 9:26:53, the date and time together represented the first 10 digits of , and later that second Pi Instant represented all of 's digits.


title: Pi Day

text: Pi Day has been observed in many ways, including eating pie, throwing pies and discussing the significance of the number , due to a pun based on the words "pi" and "pie" being homophones in English (), and the coincidental circular shape of many pies. Many pizza and pie restaurants offer discounts, deals, and free products on Pi Day. Also, some schools hold competitions as to which student can recall pi to the highest number of decimal places.


title: Pi Day

text: Massachusetts Institute of Technology has often mailed its application decision letters to prospective students for delivery on Pi Day. Starting in 2012, MIT has announced it will post those decisions (privately) online on Pi Day at exactly 6:28 pm, which they have called "Tau Time", to honor the rival numbers pi and tau equally. In 2015, the regular decisions were put online at 9:26 am, following that year's "pi minute", and in 2020, regular decisions were released at 1:59 pm, making the first six digits of pi.


title: Pi Day

text: June 28 is "Two Pi Day", also known as "Tau Day". 2, also known by the Greek letter tau () is a common multiple in mathematical formulae. Some have argued that τ is the more fundamental constant, and that Tau Day should be celebrated instead. Celebrations of this date jokingly suggest eating "twice the pie".


title: Pi Day

text: Princeton, New Jersey, hosts numerous events in a combined celebration of Pi Day and Albert Einstein's birthday, which is also March 14. Einstein lived in Princeton for more than twenty years while working at the Institute for Advanced Study. In addition to pie eating and recitation contests, there is an annual Einstein look-alike contest.


title: Pi Day

text: Pi Day is most frequently observed on March 14, but related celebrations have been held on alternative dates.


title: Pi Day

text: Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22 (22/7 in the "day/month" format), since the fraction is a common approximation of, which is accurate to two decimal places and dates from Archimedes.


title: Pi Day

text: Two Pi Day, also known as Tau Day for the mathematical constant tau, which is approximated as 6.28, is observed on June 28 (6/28 in the "month/day" format).


title: Parchment paper

text: Parchment paper, or vegetable parchment, is a cellulose-based composite that has been processed to give it additional properties like non-stickiness, grease resistance, and resistance to humidity. It is commonly used in baking as a disposable non-stick, grease resistant surface. It should not be confused with waxed paper, which is paper that has been coated in wax.


title: Parchment paper

text: Vegetable parchment paper is made by running sheets of paper pulp through a bath of sulfuric acid (a method similar to the way tracing paper is made) or sometimes zinc chloride. This process partially dissolves or gelatinizes the paper. This treatment forms a sulfurized cross-linked material, with high density, stability, heat resistance, grease resistance, water resistance, no loose fibers as well as low surface energy — thereby imparting good non-stick or release properties. The treated paper has an appearance similar to that of parchment and, because of its strength, is sometimes used in legal documents for which parchment was traditionally used. (However, parchment paper is manufactured with acid, and has a low pH, making it inappropriate for archival documents where acid-free paper is the better choice.)


title: Parchment paper

text: A common use is to eliminate the need to grease sheet pans and the like, allowing very rapid turn-around of batches of baked goods with minimal clean up. Parchment paper is also used to cook "en papillote", a technique where food is steamed or cooked within closed pouches made from parchment paper.


title: Parchment paper

text: Parchment paper can be used in most applications that call for wax paper as a non-stick surface. The reverse is not true, as using wax paper would cause smoke in the oven and would adversely affect flavor.


title: Parchment paper

text: The non-stick properties can be also achieved by employing a coated paper, for which a suitable release agent—a coating with a low surface energy and capability to withstand the temperatures involved in the baking or roasting process—is deposited onto the paper's surface; silicone (cured with a suitable catalyst) is frequently used.


title: Parchment paper

text: Parchment paper also has relevant properties for other industries. In the textile tube industry, an outer layer of parchment confers the necessary resistance to abrasion, heat and oil. In other industries, parchment is used as a processing aid due to its release properties, whether for furniture laminate manufacturing and rubber vulcanization.


title: Parchment paper

text: Parchment paper is composed of cellulosic fibers and therefore is considered compostable both in an industrial setting (EN13432) and at home.


title: Thousand Islands

text: The Thousand Islands () constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario and the U.S. islands in the state of New York.


title: Thousand Islands

text: The islands range in size from over to smaller islands occupied by a single residence, or uninhabited outcroppings of rocks. To count as one of the Thousand Islands, emergent land within the river channel must have at least of land above water level year-round, and support at least two living trees.


title: Thousand Islands

text: The Thousand Islands archipelago is at the outlet of Lake Ontario at the head of the Saint Lawrence River. The region is bisected by the Canada–United States border and covers portions of Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties in the U.S. state of New York, in addition to parts of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and Frontenac County in the Canadian province of Ontario.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Geologically, most of the islands are where a branch of the Canadian Shield, known as the Thousand Islands – Frontenac Arch region, runs south across the river to join with the Adirondacks. This region was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2002.


title: Thousand Islands

text: The Thousand Islands Bridge connects New York State and Ontario by traversing Wellesley Island at the northernmost point of Interstate 81 in Jefferson County and meets Highway 137, which leads to Highway 401. The waterfront is served by New York State Routes 12 and 37 and by the Thousand Islands Parkway in Ontario. Ontario also has the Waterfront Trail alongside the Parkway for cyclists who wish to see the area in an alternative way.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Seawaymax lake freighters often ply the Saint Lawrence Seaway. As is usual in inland waters of the US and Canada, vessels must use maritime pilots to help them travel safely. In places, a vessel less than offshore can find itself in over of water. Conversely, rocks and shoals less than underwater can be found in the center of otherwise deep waters. Due to the great number of rocks and shoals just above or below the water's surface, navigation outside of the marked channels at night can be dangerous.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Before the introduction of the zebra mussel, visibility of only was usual, slightly decreasing as the years passed. Water clarity improved markedly in the mid-1990s with the arrival of zebra mussels, which feed on algae. The water is so clear in some areas a rocky bottom can be observed in of water. The area has several shipwrecks, and although most are over underwater, some are a mere down and can be seen from the surface.


title: Thousand Islands

text: The single largest city in the region is Kingston, Ontario, which has a metropolitan population of more than 170,000 (2021). The city marks the western end of the region in Canada, while Brockville, Ontario, to the east, is the other large population center. The American region along the river is much less dense; the largest city is Watertown, New York with a population of 25,000 (2020) and is twenty miles (32 km) inland. There are a number of seasonal communities which grow significantly in the summer, like Thousand Island Park in New York.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Prior to European colonization, the Thousand Islands region was home to, or visited by, members of the Iroquois Confederacy and Ojibwa people. Their name for the islands was "Manitouana" or the "Garden of the Great Spirit".


title: Thousand Islands

text: The region was a part of the War of 1812 between the British Empire and the United States. Many sites from the war can be found, such as Fort Wellington in Prescott, Ontario and the garrison on Chimney Island, Mallorytown, Ontario. Museums about the war can be found on both the Canadian and American side of the river.


title: Thousand Islands

text: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many distinguished visitors made the region widely known as a summer resort. During the half century (1874–1912) of the resort's greatest prominence, most wealthy vacationers came from New York City, joined by prominent families from Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and other cities of the United States and Canada. Several grand hotels provided luxurious accommodations while steamboats offered extensive tours among the islands. Wealthy and middle-class summer residents built summer homes, and the region retains a historically important collection of vacation homes from this time.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Among the lavish homes built during this time were several masonry "castles", some of which remain as international landmarks. The region's first castle, Castle Rest, was built in 1888; it was destroyed in the mid-20th century. The most famous extant examples are "The Towers" on Dark Island, now called Singer Castle, and the previously long-neglected Boldt Castle on Heart Island, which had been left unfinished for over 75 years upon the untimely death of George Boldt's wife. It has since been completed over the recent decades in accord with Boldt's original plans.


title: Thousand Islands

text: The Thousand Islands have long been a center for recreational boating. Large steam yachts, many designed by Nathanael Herreshoff, required distinctive yacht houses. The region was known also for innovative power boating during this period. Three local yacht clubs hosted the Gold Cup Races of the American Power Boat Association for nine consecutive years.


title: Thousand Islands

text: To be considered an island, a piece of land must stay above water throughout the year and support a living tree. Many of the islands are publicly owned. A group of 21 islands form the Thousand Islands National Park, the oldest of Canada's national parks east of the Rocky Mountains. The park hosts campgrounds, inland walking trails, annual family events, as well as a national heritage building.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Thirty New York state parks are managed as part of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation's Thousand Islands Region, including many on river islands or along the New York shore. Many of these river parks were established in the late 19th and early 20th century as part of the St. Lawrence Reservation, and were among New York's earliest land acquisitions for the purpose of preservation and recreational development. Among the larger parks are Wellesley Island State Park, which includes the largest camping complex in the region, and Robert Moses State Park.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Passenger air service to the Thousand Islands region is available in both Ontario and New York. Watertown International Airport (ART) in Watertown, New York has daily service on American Airlines connecting through Philadelphia (PHL). Norman Rogers Airport (YGK) in Kingston, Ontario offers service on FlyGTA Airlines connecting through Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as well as service out of Montréal–Trudeau International Airport via Pascan Aviation. Both airports also offer private aviation services.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Maxson Airfield (FAA LID: 89NY) is a privately owned, private-use general aviation airport south of the central business district of Alexandria Bay, a village in Jefferson County, New York. It once had commercial service provided by Mohawk Airlines. At that time, the airport bore the IATA airport code AXB. Maxson is available to the public by Maxson Airfield, LLC.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Brockville-Thousand Islands Regional Tackaberry Airport (IATA: XBR, TC LID: CNL3), also known as Brockville Municipal Airport, is a registered aerodrome in Elizabethtown-Kitley Township, northwest of the city of Brockville, Ontario, Canada.


title: Thousand Islands

text: According to "The Oxford Companion of Food and Drink", the name for Thousand Island dressing "presumably comes from the Thousand Islands between the United States and Canada in the St. Lawrence River." However, several different versions of the dressing's origin exist. One common story describes how a fishing guide's wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the condiment as part of her husband George's shore dinner. Often in this version, actress May Irwin requested the recipe after enjoying it. Irwin in turn gave it to another Thousand Islands summer resident, George Boldt, who built Boldt Castle between 1900 and 1904. Boldt, as proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, instructed the hotel's "maître d'hôtel", Oscar Tschirky, to put the dressing on the menu in 1894.


title: Thousand Islands

text: Sociologists attempting to determine the true origin of Thousand Island dressing found several conflicting origin stories exist, and they vary between the various islands and villages of the Thousand Islands region. None appear to have any strong written evidence to support their specific claims.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" is the premiere episode of the American streaming television series "The Mandalorian". It was written by the series' showrunner Jon Favreau, directed by Dave Filoni, and released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. The episode stars Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian, a lone bounty hunter who is given a mission by the mysterious Client (co-star Werner Herzog). The episode won two Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: Five years after the fall of the Empire, a Mandalorian bounty hunter collects a fugitive after a scuffle in a bar on the ice planet Pagodon and returns to the planet Nevarro in his ship, the "Razor Crest". He meets Greef Karga, the leader of the bounty hunters guild, but he only offers low-paying bounties that will not cover travel expenses. Looking to get a bigger bounty, the Mandalorian accepts a mysterious commission for which Karga can only provide an address to meet the Client who wants the details of the job to be private.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: The Client, who uses Imperial stormtroopers as bodyguards, gives the Mandalorian a vague target to bring back alive. The only information he is allowed to give is an age—50 years old—and last known location. In exchange, The Client promises to reward the bounty hunter with a container full of beskar, a rare metal used by Mandalorians to forge their armor. Receiving a single bar of beskar as a down payment, the Mandalorian meets with the Armorer at an enclave housing fellow Mandalorians. The Armorer, who melts the metal into a pauldron reserved for the Mandalorian, says the metal was gathered in The Great Purge and the excess will sponsor foundlings, as the Mandalorian once was.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: The Mandalorian travels to a desert planet Arvala-7, and meets a native named Kuiil who wants to be rid of the criminals and mercenaries who now inhabit the area. Kuiil teaches the Mandalorian to ride a Blurrg, as there are no land speed vehicles to traverse the area, and sends him to where his bounty is located. Upon reaching the hideout, the Mandalorian grudgingly teams up with bounty droid IG-11. They manage to clear the entire facility of its Nikto guards and discover that the bounty is a green, big-eared childlike creature. IG-11 plans to kill it, but the Mandalorian blasts the droid to protect the baby and bounty.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: Disney announced that a new live action "Star Wars" series would be released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. The series cost over US$100 million to make averaging at US$15 million per episode. "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" was directed by Dave Filoni, in his live-action directorial debut. He is known for his work on the "" series and "Star Wars Rebels". The episode was written by showrunner and executive producer Jon Favreau.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: In November 2018, it was announced that Pedro Pascal had been cast as The Mandalorian, the protagonist of the series. After meeting with Favreau, Pascal initially thought he would be playing Boba Fett. Also in November 2018, it was announced that Nick Nolte had been cast as the voice of Kuiil. On December 12, 2018, it was announced that Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, and Omid Abtahi had joined the main cast as Greef Karga, The Client, and Dr. Pershing, respectively. On March 21, 2019, Taika Waititi was revealed to be recording a voice for the series, speculated to be bounty hunter droid IG-88, but which turned out to be a new character named IG-11.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: Additional guest starring actors cast for this episode include John Beasley as a bartender, Horatio Sanz as a Mythrol bounty, Tait Fletcher as Alpha Trawler, Ryan Watson as Beta Trawler, Dmitrious Bistrevsky as Quarren Trawler, Christopher Bartlett as a ferryman, Brian Posehn as a speeder pilot, and Emily Swallow as The Armorer. Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder are credited as stunt doubles for The Mandalorian. Wayne had worked closely with Pascal to develop the character. Misty Rosas and Rio Hackford are credited as performance artists for Kuiil and IG-11, respectively. "The Child" was performed by various puppeteers.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: Ludwig Göransson composed the musical score for the episode. The soundtrack album for the episode was released on November 12, 2019.


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" received generally positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the episode has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 81 critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Though its character building leaves something to be desired, "Chapter 1" is a visual feast with enough sense of adventure to inspire hope that the force may be strong with "The Mandalorian"".


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: Alan Sepinwall of "Rolling Stone" wrote: ""Fun" is also probably the best word I can apply to the compact Mandalorian premiere. Favreau and Filoni do an effective job introducing us to this corner of the franchise, and to the rough, desperate circumstances of the title character." Caroline Framke of Variety wrote: "Less concerned with capturing the magic of Star Wars than roughing it up a bit. Even when The Mandalorian lags, its swerve from a more expected route makes it more intriguing as an entryway into a galaxy far, far away." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com said the premiere was "like the character at the show's center, this guy knows the job. Hook the viewer, and keep them hooked as the monthly subscription cost renews. 'The Mandalorian' feels likely to do exactly that". Keith Phipps of "Vulture" stated ""The Mandalorian" rises, [...] digging into the seedy underbelly glimpsed in Episode IV's cantina scene and throughout "Rogue One"". Melanie McFarland of "Salon" said the "Force is strong with "The Mandalorian" debut". Lorraine Ali of the "Los Angeles Times" described the first episode as "a safe, entertaining blockbuster".


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: Emily St. James of "Vox Media" had a more lukewarm reception, stating ""The Mandalorian" blends "Star Wars", Spaghetti Westerns, and prestige TV. It's fine. But shouldn't Disney+ want more than fine?" St. James additionally described the first five minutes as "stretched out".


title: Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

text: The episode won two Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour or Less) and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on 12 July 1943 near Prokhorovka, southeast of Kursk, in the Soviet Union, during the Second World War. Taking place on the Eastern Front, the engagement was part of the wider Battle of Kursk and occurred when the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army attacked the II SS-Panzer Corps of the German Waffen-SS in one of the largest tank battles in history.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: In April 1943, the German leadership began preparing for Operation Citadel, with the objective of enveloping and destroying the Soviet forces in the Kursk salient by attacking and breaking through the base of the salient from north and south simultaneously. The German offensive was delayed several times because of the vacillation of the leadership (Hitler repeatedly delayed launching the attack so that more Tiger tanks could be delivered to the front, hoping that a technical advantage would help him win the offensive) and the addition of more forces and new equipment. The Soviet high command, Stavka, had learned of the German intentions and so used the delay to prepare a series of defensive belts along the routes of the planned German offensive. The Soviet leadership also massed several armies deep behind their defences as the Stavka Reserve. The army group, the Steppe Front, was to launch counteroffensives once the German strength had dissipated. The 5th Guards Tank Army was the primary armoured formation of the Steppe Front.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On 5 July 1943, the Wehrmacht launched its offensive. On the northern side of the salient, the German forces bogged down within four days. On the southern side, the German 4th Panzer Army, with Army Detachment Kempf on its eastern flank, attacked the Soviet defences of the Voronezh Front. They made slow but steady progress through the Soviet defensive lines.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: After a week of fighting, the Soviets launched their counteroffensives: Operation Kutuzov on the northern side and a coinciding one on the southern side. On the southern side of the salient near Prokhorovka, the 5th Guards Tank Army engaged the II SS-Panzer Corps of the 4th Panzer Army, resulting in a large clash of armoured fighting vehicles. The 5th Guards Tank Army suffered significant losses in the attack, but succeeded in preventing the Wehrmacht from capturing Prokhorovka and breaking through the third defensive belt, the last heavily-fortified one. Having failed to achieve his objective, Hitler, despite the advice of his commanders, cancelled Operation Citadel and began redeploying his forces to deal with new pressing developments elsewhere.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The Red Army went on a general offensive by conducting Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev on the southern side and continuing Operation Kutuzov on the northern side. The Soviet Union thus seized the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front, which it held for the rest of the war.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: After the conclusion of the battle for the Donets, as the spring (mud) season came to an end in 1943, both the German and Soviet commands considered their plans for future operations. The Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and some senior Soviet officers wanted to seize the initiative first and attack the German forces inside the Soviet Union, but they were convinced by a number of key commanders, including the Deputy Supreme Commander Georgy Zhukov, to assume a defensive posture instead. This would allow the German side to weaken themselves in attacking prepared positions, after which the Soviet forces would be able to respond with a counter-offensive.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Strategic discussions also occurred on the German side, with Field Marshal Erich von Manstein arguing for a mobile defence that would give up terrain and allow the Soviet units to advance, while the German forces launched a series of sharp counterattacks against their flanks to inflict heavy attrition. But for political reasons, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler insisted that the German forces go on the offensive, choosing the Kursk salient for the attack. On 15 April 1943 he authorised preparations for "Unternehmen Zitadelle" (Operation Citadel).


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The German offensive plan envisioned an assault at the base of the Kursk salient from both the north and south, with the intent of enveloping and destroying the Soviet forces in the salient. The two spearheads were to meet near the city of Kursk. From the south, the XLVIII Panzer Corps and General Paul Hausser's II SS-Panzer Corps, forming the left and right wings of the 4th Panzer Army commanded by Colonel General Hermann Hoth, would drive northward. The III Panzer Corps of Army Detachment Kempf was to protect Hoth's right flank. The 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf were under Army Group South, commanded by Manstein. Air support over the southern portion of the offensive was provided by Colonel General Otto Deßloch's Luftflotte 4 and its major air formation, the 8th Air Corps. The German offensive, originally slated to commence in the beginning of May, was postponed several times as the German leadership reconsidered and vacillated over its prospects, as well as to bring forward more units and equipment.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The Soviet leadership, through their intelligence agencies and foreign sources, learned about the German intentions, and therefore the multiple delays by the German high command, OKW, allowed them a great deal of time to prepare their defences. Employing defence in depth, they constructed a series of defensive lines to wear down the attacking panzer formations. Three belts made up of extensive minefields, anti-tank ditches, and anti-tank gun emplacements were created; behind those were an additional three belts, which were mostly unoccupied and less fortified. The Voronezh Front, commanded by General Nikolai Vatutin, defended the southern face of the salient. The Steppe Front, commanded by Colonel General Ivan Konev, formed the strategic reserve. It was to be held back east of the salient until the time was right for the Soviet counteroffensive. This formation included Lieutenant General Alexei Zhadov's 5th Guards Army and Lieutenant General Pavel Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The Wehrmacht launched its attack on the morning of 5 July 1943 and met heavy resistance. There were far more Soviet anti-tank guns, minefields, anti-tank ditches and overall Soviet resistance than had been anticipated, making a breakthrough more difficult to achieve. Furthermore, from the outset they were subjected to frequent counterattacks from Soviet tank units. Despite this, by the end of 5 July the II SS-Panzer Corps had advanced through the first defensive belt on the southern side of the salient and reached the second, although the plan was to breach the first two belts and reach the third on the first day. Nonetheless, the panzer corps' penetration caused great concern among Soviet commanders, compelling Vatutin to commit almost all of Voronezh Front's operational reserves by the end of the first day.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The III Panzer Corps met with stiff resistance as well and had great difficulty creating and maintaining a bridgehead across the Northern Donets River. They eventually succeeded by the morning of 6 July, but the delay in their advance kept them from protecting the east flank of the II SS-Panzer Corps.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Late on 6 July, the 5th Guards Tank and the 5th Guards Armies of the Steppe Front began moving up from their reserve position. The 5th Guards Tank Army covered the over three days, and arrived at the Prokhorovka area on the night of 9 July, and the 5th Guards Army's 33rd Guards Rifle Corps arrived at the settlement on the night of 10 July. Both armies completed their journey and deployment intact without any substantial interference from the Luftwaffe.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Slow progress by the XLVIII Panzer Corps caused Hoth to shift elements of the II SS-Panzer Corps on 8 July to aid the XLVIII Corps' drive toward Oboyan and Kursk. On the same day, the Soviet units counterattacked the II SS-Panzer Corps with several tank corps. These attacks did not destroy the panzer corps as hoped, but slowed its progress. By the end of 8 July, the II SS-Panzer Corps had advanced about and broken through the first and second defensive belts.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On the following day, 9 July, a meeting of the commanders of the German forces on the northern side of the Kursk salient concluded that a breakthrough on the northern side of the salient was unlikely. Nevertheless, they decided to continue their offensive to maintain pressure and inflict casualties, thereby tying down the Soviet forces there. Any level of success for Operation Citadel now depended on a breakthrough being achieved by 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf on the southern side of the Kursk salient.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On the evening of 9 July, the II SS-Panzer Corps was ordered to shift its own forward progress, from due north to the northeast, toward the settlement of Prokhorovka. Hoth had formulated this move, and had discussed it with Manstein since early May, as he expected large Soviet armoured reserve forces to arrive from the east, and he did not want his corps to be caught crossing the Psel River when they arrived. The plan originally envisioned elements of XLVIII Panzer Corps and III Panzer Corps joining in the attack toward Prokhorovka, but this could not be realised. The Soviet command, however, interpreted the change in direction to be a response to the heavy resistance the German forces had faced driving toward Oboyan, and incorrectly believed the change indicated the German panzer forces had been severely weakened.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Soviet intelligence reports issued from 8 to 9 July reported that defensive works were being constructed by German infantry on the flanks of the 4th Panzer Army, and that German armoured formations were not present in these locations, despite the fact that Soviet armoured formations were situated opposite these flanks. Voronezh Front headquarters supposed the Germans must be reaching their limit, and on 10 July decided to set its counterattack to coincide with the planned Soviet counteroffensive on the northern side of the Kursk salient, Operation Kutuzov, which was set for 12 July.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Starting on the morning of 10 July, the II SS-Panzer Corps began its attack toward Prokhorovka. Its 3rd SS-Panzergrenadier Division "Totenkopf" attacked across the Psel River and secured a bridgehead. The 1st SS-Panzergrenadier Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" captured "Komsomolets" State Farm and Hill 241.6. The 2nd SS-Panzergrenadier Division "Das Reich" defended the panzer corps' flank from Soviet armoured counterattacks.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The II SS-Panzer Corps continued its attack toward Prokhorovka on 11 July. The advance of "Leibstandarte" was checked by the 2nd Tank Corps, which had been reinforced by the 9th Guards Airborne Division and 301st Anti-tank Artillery Regiment, both from the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. "Totenkopf" was resisted by the 31st Tank Corps, the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps' 95th Guards Rifle Division, and the 11th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 10th Tank Corps. To the south of "Leibstandarte", the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 48th Rifle Corps' 183rd Rifle Division opposed the advance of "Das Reich".


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: By day's end on 11 July "Leibstandarte" had advanced deep into the Soviet third defensive belt. They had moved up the Psel corridor, cleared Soviet resistance at the "Oktyabrsky" ("October") State Farm (), crossed a 15-foot (4.6 m)-deep anti-tank ditch at the base of Hill 252.2 and seized the hill itself after a brief but bloody battle, leaving them only south of Prokhorovka. To its northwest, the panzergrenadiers of "Totenkopf" had achieved a bridgehead across the Psel and tanks had been brought across, but they had yet to take Hill 226.6 and there was a gap between "Totenkopf" and "Leibstandarte". To the south of "Leibstandarte", "Das Reich" had also met stiff resistance and lagged behind some . With its advance, "Leibstandarte" was exposed on both of its flanks.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Late on 11 July the 5th Guards Tank Army prepared for its forthcoming counterattack. "Leibstandarte"s advance had disrupted Rotmistrov's preparations, as the assembly areas he intended to use for the tank army's 18th and 29th Tank Corps were in German hands by the end of the day, forcing him to hastily revise his plans and select new positions. The arrival of the 5th Guards Tank Army just days earlier was detrimental to it in two major ways: the tank unit commanders did not have an opportunity to reconnoitre the terrain they would be travelling across, and the supporting artillery was unable to site and spot their fire.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Late on the evening of 11 July, Hausser, the commander of the II SS-Panzer Corps, issued orders for the next day's advance on Prokhorovka. It was known that the Red Army had dug in many anti-tank guns on the southwest slopes of Prokhorovka, making a direct attack by "Leibstandarte" very difficult. The plan was for "Totenkopf" to capture Hill 226.6, and advance northeast along the Psel River to the Kartashёvka-Prokhorovka road, and then strike southeast into the flank and rear of Soviet forces at Prokhorovka. "Leibstandarte" was ordered to make a limited advance and secure Storozhevoe and Lamki just outside Prokhorovka, then it and "Das Reich" were to wait until "Totenkopf"s attack had disrupted the Soviet positions, after which "Leibstandarte" was to attack the main Soviet defences on the southwest slope of Prokhorovka. To "Leibstandarte"s right, elements of "Das Reich" were also to advance eastward to the high ground south of Prokhorovka, then turn south away from Prokhorovka to roll up the Soviet defences opposing the III Panzer Corps' advance and force a gap. The 8th Air Corps was to concentrate its effort to supporting the advance of the II SS-Panzer Corps, with the XLVIII Panzer Corps to the west assigned limited air resources.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The 5th Guards Army and 5th Guards Tank Army of the Steppe Front had been brought up from reserve and reassigned to the Voronezh Front on 8 and 11 July respectively. On 11 July, Vatutin ordered the armies of the Voronezh Front to go over to the offensive on the following day. This Soviet counterattack on the southern side of the Kursk salient was planned to coincide with the offensive against Orel on the northern side, Operation Kutuzov. Vatutin ordered Rotmistrov to destroy the German forces near Prokhorovka with his 5th Guards Tank Army, without allowing the German forces to withdraw southward.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: For the battle, Rotmistrov ordered his tanks to move forward at high speed to engage the German armour in order to nullify the advantages the Tiger tanks had in the range and firepower of their 88 mm guns. He believed the more manoeuvrable T-34 medium tanks would be able to quickly close in and obtain effective flanking shots against the German heavy tanks. In fact, Soviet intelligence had greatly overestimated the numbers of Ferdinand "Jagdpanzer" tank destroyers and Tiger tanks possessed by the II SS-Panzer Corps. In actuality there were no Ferdinands with the 4th Panzer Army or Army Group South, as they were all deployed on the northern side of the Kursk salient with the 9th Army. Soviet tank crews frequently mistook the versions of Panzer IV tanks that were armed with the 7.5 cm KwK 40 anti-tank gun, which also had extra armour added to their turret, for Tigers; therefore Soviet reports tended to overestimate the number of Tigers employed by the German side during the Battle of Kursk.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Soviet air support in the southern part of the salient was provided by the 2nd Air Army and the 17th Air Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Stepan Krasovsky and Lieutenant General Vladimir Sudets, respectively. However, the bulk of the air support was committed in support of Soviet units attacking XLVIII Panzer Corps to the west of Prokhorovka and the III Panzer Corps to the southeast, and only limited numbers of aircraft were available to support 5th Guards Tank Army's attack.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Rotmistrov's plans for a counterattack were threatened by events to the south. The III Panzer Corps managed to cross the Northern Donets at Rzhavets on the night of 11 July, and was about southeast of Prokhorovka, and advancing northwards. This threat jeopardised Rotmistrov's entire plan by threatening the flank and rear of the 5th Guards Tank Army. Early on 12 July, Vatutin ordered Rotmistrov to send reinforcements to the Soviet 7th Guards and 69th Armies facing the III Panzer Corps. He organised a task force under the command of his deputy, Major General Kuzma Trufanov, which consisted of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade from the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, the 11th and 12th Guards Mechanized Brigades from the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, and the 53rd Guards Tank Regiment of the 5th Guards Tank Army. Other units of the Voronezh Front also joined the group on its way south. In doing so, Rotmistrov committed over half of his army's reserves before the Battle of Prokhorovka had begun.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The German forces involved in the Battle of Prokhorovka were from the three Waffen-SS divisions of the II SS-Panzer Corps: "Leibstandarte", "Das Reich", and "Totenkopf". On the evening of 11 July, the serviceable armour strength of the II SS-Panzer Corps was 294 tanks and assault guns, which included 15 Tigers. The armoured strength of "Leibstandarte", "Das Reich", and "Totenkopf" were 77, 95, and 122 tanks and assault guns respectively. Ten of the Tigers were to the north of the Psel River with "Totenkopf", four were with "Leibstandarte", and "Das Reich" had just one.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: "Leibstandarte" had advanced the most deeply toward Prokhorovka and was situated in the centre of the German position. A railway line, with a 30-feet high railbed, divided "Leibstandarte"s area into north and south. The bulk of the division was positioned to the north of the rail line, including the division's 1st SS-Panzer Regiment and 2nd SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment, as well as its reconnaissance, artillery and command units. To the south of the rail line was "Leibstandarte"s 1st SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment, along with the division's 1st SS-Panzerjäger Battalion. "Das Reich" was positioned to the south of "Leibstandarte", and it protected the southern flank of the II SS-Panzer Corps. "Totenkopf" was positioned to the northwest of "Leibstandarte". "Totenkopf"s 3rd SS-Panzer Regiment had largely crossed over the Psel in preparation for the assault. "Leibstandarte" placed its lightly armed 1st SS-Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion in the gap between it and "Totenkopf" to provide some flank protection. The unit was, later on 12 July, buttressed by the division's four remaining Tigers, commanded by SS-Untersturmführer Michael Wittmann.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The main Soviet armoured formation involved in the battle was the 5th Guards Tank Army, which controlled five corps, two of which were Guards units, by 12 July: the 2nd Guards, 2nd, 5th Guards Mechanized, 18th and 29th Tank Corps. Altogether they fielded 793 tanks and 37 to 57 self-propelled guns for a total of approximately 840 armoured fighting vehicles. About two-thirds of these tanks were T-34s, while the remainder were T-70 light tanks, with some 31 to 35 Churchill heavy tanks as well. Not all of the 5th Guards Tank Army was present in the Prokhorovka area during the battle, as part of the formation had been sent south to check the advance of the III Panzer Corps. The Soviet armour of the 5th Guards Tank Army – including the newly attached 2nd Guards Tank Corps and 2nd Tank Corps, as well as the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps held in reserve – that faced the II SS-Panzer Corps on 12 July was about 616 tanks and self-propelled guns. In addition, five artillery regiments, one artillery brigade, and one anti-aircraft artillery division were attached to the 5th Guards Tank Army for the assault.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The main attack of the 5th Guards Tank Army was conducted against "Leibstandarte" by its fresh 29th and 18th Tank Corps that had been brought up from the Soviet strategic reserve. These two Soviet tank corps together provided the greatest number of tanks in the attack, with the 18th Tank Corps fielding 190 tanks and self-propelled guns, and the 29th Tank Corps fielding 212 tanks and self-propelled guns. Infantry support to the 18th and 29th Tank Corps was provided by the 9th Guards Airborne Division. A portion of the 18th Tank Corps was directed against the eastern flank of "Totenkopf"s 6th SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment "Theodor Eicke". On the southeastern wing of the 5th Guards Tank Army, Rotmistrov deployed the 120 tanks of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps. Later on 12 July during the battle, the 26th Guards Tank Brigade of that tank corps with its estimated 40 tanks were sent south to face the III Panzer Corps. The remainder of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, supported by the remnants of the 2nd Tank Corps, was to attack "Das Reich". Their infantry support was provided by the 183rd Rifle Division. The western flank of the 5th Guards Tank Army, which faced "Totenkopf", was defended by the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps' 42nd and 95th Guards Rifle Divisions, which were supported by the remnants of the 31st Tank Corps and the heavily depleted 23rd Guards Rifle Corps' 52nd Guards Rifle Division. The forces of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps that were not sent south were held as reserve northwest of Prokhorovka, and they numbered about 113 tanks and self-propelled guns.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Vatutin directed Soviet air assets to commit their main effort toward checking the III Panzer Corps' drive northward, and in supporting the attack against the XLVIII Panzer Corps. Missions were flown in support of the attack of the 5th Guards Tank Army as well, but to a limited extent. The 2nd Air Army had some 472 aircraft operational on 12 July, while the 17th Air Army had 300 operational aircraft.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: At 05:45 on 12 July, "Leibstandarte"s headquarters started receiving reports of the sound of many tank engines as the Soviet tanks moved into their assembly areas for the attack. At around 06:50, elements of "Leibstandarte"s 1st SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment nudged forward and drove the Soviet infantry out of Storozhevoe, while elements of the division's 2nd SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment fanned out from the "Oktyabrsky" State Farm. The Soviet forces began a preparatory artillery barrage at around 08:00, and as the last shells fell at 08:30, Rotmistrov radioed the code words "Stal! Stal! Stal!" ("Steel, Steel, Steel!") – the order to commence the attack. With that the Soviet armour of the 5th Guards Tank Army began their advance.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: In total, about 500 tanks and self-propelled guns of the 5th Guards Tank Army attacked the positions of the II SS-Panzer Corps on 12 July, doing so in two waves, with 430 tanks in the first echelon and 70 more in the second.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Down from the slopes in front of Prokhorovka, the massed Soviet armour charged with five tank brigades of the 18th and 29th Tank Corps, firing as they came at "Leibstandarte"s positions. As the Soviet tanks rolled down the slopes, they carried the men of the 9th Guards Airborne Division on their hulls ("tank desant"). The troops of "Leibstandarte" were not slated to go into action until later in the day. Exhausted from the previous week's fighting, many were just starting their day at the outset of the attack. As the Soviet armour appeared, German outposts all across the corps' frontage began firing purple warning flares signalling a tank attack. Obersturmbannführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop, commander of a panzer company under the 1st SS-Panzer Regiment, stated that he knew at once a major attack was underway. He ordered his company of seven Panzer IVs to follow him over a bridge across an anti-tank ditch. Crossing the bridge they fanned out on the lower slope of Hill 252.2. On the crest of the hill, Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper's 3rd Panzergrenadier Battalion of the 2nd SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment were being overrun.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: As Ribbentrop's tanks spread out, he and the 1st SS-Panzer Regiment were suddenly confronted by Soviet tanks of the 29th Tank Corps' 31st and 32nd Tank Brigades: "About 150–200 meters in front of me appeared fifteen, then thirty, then forty tanks. Finally there were too many of them to count." The Soviet armour, firing on the move, charged down the western slopes of Hill 252.2 into the panzer company, and a tank battle ensued. Rotmistrov's tactic to close at high speed disrupted the control and co-ordination of the Soviet tank formations and also greatly reduced their accuracy. In a three-hour battle, the 1st SS-Panzer Regiment engaged the attacking Soviet tanks and repulsed them, reporting that they destroyed about 62 Soviet tanks. Later that afternoon, tanks from the 31st Tank Brigade and the 53rd Motorized Brigade overran elements of the 1st SS-Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion and reached "Komsomolets" State Farm, threatening "Leibstandarte" lines of communication and the division's command post located at Hill 241.6. The Soviet tanks attacked the division's 1st SS-Panzer Artillery Regiment, killing some of the crews before they themselves were destroyed by direct fire from anti-tank teams.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Wittmann's group of four Tigers provided support to the reconnaissance battalion in its effort to protect "Leibstandarte"s left flank, and faced off with the 18th Tank Corps' advancing 181st Tank Brigade. In a three-hour battle the Tigers engaged the Soviet tanks at ranges from 1,000 metres down to point-blank, inflicting heavy losses on the Soviet tankers and successfully repelling their attack. None of the Tigers were lost. Later, elements of the 170th Tank Brigade engaged the 1st SS-Panzer Regiment, which was already fighting the 31st and 32nd Tank Brigades. Despite losing its commander and about 30 tanks in the fight, by early afternoon the 170th Tank Brigade had forced the 1st SS-Panzer Regiment back to the "Oktyabrsky" State Farm and reached the position of the 1st SS-Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion. At around 18:00, the 170th and 181st Tank Brigades penetrated the German line connecting "Totenkopf" and "Leibstandarte". Assault guns and panzers supporting "Totenkopf"s 6th SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment "Theodor Eicke" repelled the Soviet attack and re-established the line, forcing the Soviet tanks to withdraw to the village of Andreevka.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The advance of Soviet armour down Hill 252.2 was disrupted when they reached the anti-tank ditch at the base of the hill. A number of tanks crashed into the 15-foot deep ditch while others moved along the edge looking for a way to cross. Heavy fire was exchanged between the Soviet tanks and two companies of a panzergrenadier battalion on the opposite side of the ditch. Peiper's surviving panzergrenadiers engaged the Soviet infantry and attacked the Soviet tanks with "Hafthohlladung" magnetic anti-tank grenades. Twenty of his battalion's half-tracks were lost in the fighting, some destroyed in ramming the much heavier Soviet tanks in an effort to stop them. Eventually, due to heavy Soviet pressure and dangerously exposed flanks, "Leibstandarte" withdrew from the "Oktyabrsky" State Farm and established firmer defensive lines to the south.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The 2nd and 17th Air Armies flew 893 sorties compared to the German 8th Air Corps's 654 sorties over the southern part of the salient. Of note, most of the Soviet sorties flown that day were flown against the XLVIII Panzer Corps to the west and the III Panzer Corps to the south. Low clouds in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon inhibited air operations over Prokhorovka for both sides. Over the Prokhorovka battlefield the Luftwaffe gained control of the air. Formations of Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka"s, including a small number of the G-2 variants, experimentally equipped with twin "Bordkanone" BK 3,7 cannon in gun pods, that were commanded by "Staffelkapitän" Hans-Ulrich Rudel, attacked the Soviet formations. They were joined by Focke-Wulf Fw 190 single engine fighter-bombers and Henschel Hs 129 twin-engined ground-attack aircraft, both equipped with anti-tank cannon. In particular, the Hs 129 formations from "SG" 1 inflicted grievous losses on Soviet tanks. The Stuka wings, "StG" 2 and "StG" 77, made their weakest contribution to the Kursk operation since the 5 July – 150 sorties – down from 1,071 on 5 July, but the small Ju 87G contingent proved effective. Luftwaffe liaison officers allotted to German ground forces were able to guide the close air support units to carry out pinpoint attacks. SG 1 and "Panzerjägerstaffel"/JG 51 flew 248 attack missions, virtually all of them in support of the II SS "Panzerkorps".


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The 31st Tank Brigade, 29th Tank Corps, reported: "We suffered heavy losses in tanks through enemy artillery and aircraft. At 10:30 our tanks reached the "Komsomolets" State Farm, but due to continuous air attacks, they were unable to advance any further and shifted to the defence." The tank brigade also reported: "our own air cover was fully absent until 13:00." The 5th Guards Tank Army reported: "the enemy's aircraft literally hung above our combat formations throughout the entire battle, while our own aircraft, and particularly the fighter aviation, was totally insufficient." The 36th Tank Brigade lost its commander to an air attack.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: German domination of the Prokhorovka air space occurred for several reasons. During the initial stages of the battle it was Soviet tanks that were hit and burned, obscuring the battlefield which made it difficult for Soviet commanders to develop a clear picture of the situation. Added to that was the failure to provide air liaison officers with Red Army forces, who were then unable to call for air support when the German assault formations first appeared. Whereas the German 8th Air Corps assembled powerful concentrations over the Prokhorovka battlefield, the 17th Air Army spread its forces thinly, to support other sectors; the Soviets dominated the air over the 4th Panzer Army's flanks, leaving the skies over Prokhorovka clear. The 2nd Air Army's fighter aviation had been reduced to 266 aircraft, and this force was used in the fighter escort, not the air superiority role. The battle of Prokhorovka absorbed the 8th Air Corps' combat power to the extent it was unable to intervene to support the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, enabling Soviet defences to defeat the attempted breakthrough in that sector.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The posture, dispositions and tactics on 12 July led to few losses on either side in air combat. The 8th Air Corps reported 19 aircraft damaged and destroyed. Only one German aircraft was reported lost in combat with Soviet fighters; the rest were victims of Soviet ground-fire. In return, the 2nd Air Army reported 14 fighters damaged and destroyed (German fighter pilots claimed only seven; though they claimed 16 aircraft of all types shot down). Soviet bomber losses are unknown.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: By the end of the day, "Leibstandarte" still held Hill 252.2, but had been exhausted by the effort of turning back five Soviet tank brigades. To its left, "Totenkopf" had succeeded in capturing Hill 226.6 and had advanced along the northern bank of the Psel River to reach the Karteschevka–Prokhorovka road, northwest of Prokhorovka in accordance with plan. It was in position to outflank the Soviet forces at Prokhorovka, but was under pressure from Soviet attacks and its hold on the forward ground was tenuous. Forced onto the defensive by the attacks of the 2nd Guards and 2nd Tank Corps, "Das Reich" was unable to conduct its planned offensive manoeuvres.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On the Soviet side, all the tank units under Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army involved in the battle on 12 July suffered heavy losses. Rotmistrov later wrote that the 29th Tank Corps lost 60 percent of its armour and the 18th Tank Corps lost 30 percent on 12 July. A Soviet General Staff report recorded: "Thus on 12 July, the 5th Guards Tank Army failed to accomplish its assigned mission. As a result of the frontal attack, the army's corps fought heavy battles against large enemy tank forces during which they were forced to assume defence." Rotmistrov was forced to shift the 18th and 29th Tank Corps over to defence and reinforce them with infantry. They dug more trenches, dug in some of their tanks, laid new minefields, prepared anti-tank strong points and massed their artillery. The 10th Guards Mechanized and 24th Guards Tank Brigades of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps made preparations to push "Totenkopf" back the next morning.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Stalin was very disappointed and infuriated by the early reports of heavy Soviet losses in the battle and on the evening of 12 July, he berated Rotmistrov via a phone call. The same evening, he dispatched Zhukov, who had been overseeing Operation Kutuzov, to Vatutin's headquarters as Stavka representative, in order to assume control of coordinating the operations of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts. A commission was dispatched to investigate the cause of the high losses and the role of Rotmistrov and his plans in the battle; its findings were completed and submitted to Stalin two weeks later, and initially considering sacking Rotmistrov and hauling him before a military tribunal, Stalin eventually changed his mind after the Chief of the General Staff Aleksandr Vasilevsky interceded.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On the night of 12 July, Vatutin ordered Soviet forces to prevent any further German advance on Prokhorovka, destroy German forces that had advanced along the northern bank of the Psel River, and stop the III Panzer Corps from making further progress. Orders issued by the German command for 13 July instructed "Totenkopf" to consolidate its gains of the previous day and then attack into the flank and rear of the Soviet forces around Prokhorovka. "Leibstandarte" was to strengthen its front line and co-ordinate its attack on Prokhorovka from the south with "Totenkopf"s attack from the northwest. "Das Reich" was to consolidate and strengthen its front line and prepare for an offensive operation to link up with the III Panzer Corps.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On the morning of 13 July, the 10th Guards Mechanized and 24th Guards Tank Brigades, in cooperation with the 95th and 52nd Guards Rifle Corps, launched attacks against "Totenkopf". These Soviet attacks preoccupied "Totenkopf" and prevented it from attacking toward Prokhorovka. Around noon, "Leibstandarte"s 1st SS-Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion was ordered to attack northward toward the Psel River to consolidate its front line with "Totenkopf", while the division's panzer units were to attack toward Soviet positions northeast of the "Oktyabrsky" State Farm toward Prokhorovka.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The 1st SS-Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion attacked the defensive positions held by the 42nd Guards Rifle Division and the remaining armour of the 18th Tank Corps, while the panzer units attacked the defences of 9th Guards Airborne Division and the 29th Tank Corps. These German attacks were repelled by concentrated anti-tank artillery fire. The 29th Tank Corps responded with a counterattack and penetrated German lines, reaching "Komsomolets" State Farm before being beaten back by direct fire from German artillery. That afternoon, "Totenkopf" was ordered to abandon their positions northwest of Prokhorovka and return to tenable positions around Hill 226.6. Soviet attempts to sever the narrow salient were unsuccessful, and "Totenkopf" completed its withdrawal by nightfall.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On 13 July Hitler summoned Manstein and the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Günther von Kluge, to his Eastern Front headquarters, the "Wolfsschanze" in East Prussia. The Allied invasion of Sicily on the night of 9–10 July, combined with the Soviet counteroffensive of Operation Kutuzov against the flank and rear of General Walter Model's 9th Army on the northern side of the Kursk salient on 12 July, and the attacks by strong Soviet forces at Prokhorovka the same day had caused Hitler to stop the offensive and begin redeploying forces to the Mediterranean theatre. He ordered his generals to terminate Operation Citadel.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Kluge welcomed the decision, as he was already in the process of withdrawing units of the 9th Army from the northern side of the Kursk salient to deal with Soviet attacks on his flank. But Manstein was greatly disappointed. He argued that his forces were now on the verge of achieving a major breakthrough on the southern side of the salient. As he saw it, with his III Panzer Corps about to link up with the II SS-Panzer Corps at Prokhorovka, and with the XXIV Panzer Corps available as his operational reserve, they would be halting the offensive just at the moment when victory was in hand. With an eye toward the west, Hitler was unwilling to continue the offensive. Manstein persisted, proposing that his forces should at least destroy the Soviet reserves in the southern Kursk salient before Citadel was finally terminated, so that the Soviet fighting capacity in the sector would be depleted for the rest of the summer. Hitler agreed to continue offensive operations in the southern salient until Manstein's goal was achieved.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: After the meeting with Hitler on 13 July, Manstein hastily put together the plans for Operation Roland, realizing that he only had a few days to conduct the operation before he lost the II SS-Panzer Corps due to redeployment. The plan called for "Das Reich" to attack east and south and link up with III Panzer Corps, which would attack to the northwest. "Totenkopf" and "Leibstandarte" were to anchor the western and northern flanks of "Das Reich", respectively. Once the link was achieved and the Soviet forces encircled, Prokhorovka would then be attacked shortly thereafter by the combined forces of the II SS-Panzer Corps and III Panzer Corps. The goal of the operation was to destroy the Soviet armoured reserves massed in the southern sector of the Kursk salient, and thereby check Soviet offensive capacity for the rest of the summer.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The orders for Operation Roland were issued in the closing hours of 13 July 1943. But after meeting with Manstein, Hitler countermanded the XXIV Panzer Corps' deployment to the Kursk salient, sending them on 14 July to support the 1st Panzer Army to the south. The assault began at 04:00 on 14 July. Following a brief artillery barrage, the 4th SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment "Der Führer" of "Das Reich" struck out for the high ground south-west of Pravorot, evicting the remnants of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps from the village of Belenikhino following house-to-house and hand-to-hand fighting. "Das Reich"s 2nd SS-Panzer Regiment fought off a series of counterattacks and forced the Red Army units to withdraw eastward to a new line. Zhukov ordered the 10th Guards Mechanized Brigade of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps to reinforce the line. The 7th Panzer Division of the III Panzer Corps made contact with "Das Reich", but Trufanov, commanding the Soviet forces in the gap, was aware of the threat and conducted a fighting withdrawal. The link-up failed to trap the Soviet forces, though they abandoned a substantial number of their anti-tank guns. Operation Roland failed to produce a decisive result for the German side, and "Totenkopf" began withdrawing from its positions north of the Psel, following orders issued late on 15 July, as the II SS-Panzer Corps assumed a defensive stance along its entire front.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: On 17 July the Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts launched a major offensive across the Mius and Donets Rivers against the southern wing of Army Group South, pressing upon the 6th Army and 1st Panzer Army. In the early afternoon of 17 July, Operation Roland was terminated with an order for the II SS-Panzer Corps to begin withdrawing from the Prokhorovka sector back to Belgorod. The 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf anticipated the order and began executing it as early as the evening of 16 July. "Leibstandarte"s tanks were distributed between "Das Reich" and "Totenkopf", and the division was hastily redeployed to Italy, while "Das Reich" and "Totenkopf" were dispatched south to meet the new Soviet offensives.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Losses for 12 July are difficult to establish for either combatant. Tank losses attributed to the German side vary, in part due to the Wehrmacht's methodology for counting and reporting equipment losses. Only equipment that could not be repaired or that had to be abandoned were counted as losses, but damaged equipment that could be recovered and repaired were simply listed as such. Likewise, reliable figures for tank and personnel casualties for the Red Army in the Battle of Prokhorovka are difficult to establish.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The II SS-Panzer Corps reported 842 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing for 12 July, and 2,672 for 12 to 16 July inclusive. Since the German forces controlled much of the Prokhorovka battlefield until 17 July, they were able to recover most of their disabled armoured vehicles. The II SS-Panzer Corps' logistics report for 12 July did not record any confirmed permanent tank losses. Other German sources show that three tanks of the II SS-Panzer Corps (two Panzer IVs and a Tiger) that were immobilized in the battlefield could not be subsequently recovered and therefore the permanent losses can only be adjusted to a possible maximum of three tanks for 12 July. A study by the US Army's Center for Strategy and Force Evaluation attributed six permanent tank losses, not counting Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks or German assault guns if any. Archival files of the II SS-Panzer Corps and 4th Panzer Army show that the II SS-Panzer Corps permanently lost 17 tanks and assault guns from 12 to 23 July inclusive, which therefore represents the maximum permanent losses the unit could have incurred for the engagement on 12 July up till the end of Operation Roland.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Archival data of the II SS-Panzer Corps shows that the corps had 294 operable tanks and assault guns on the evening of 11 July, and 251 on the evening of 13 July. Allowing for the possibility that some repaired tanks were returned to service on 13 July, these numbers indicate that at least 43 tanks and assault guns became inoperable during this period, which includes all ten Tigers belonging to "Totenkopf" and one belonging to "Leibstandarte". An estimated total of 60–80 tanks and assault guns of the II SS-Panzer Corps were damaged or destroyed in combat on 12 July. By the end of 16 July, the II SS-Panzer Corps had 292 serviceable tanks and assault guns, almost the same number it had at the beginning of the battle on 12 July. On 12 July, Schlachtgeschwader 1 of the 8th Air Corps reported 11 aircraft damaged, all by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, of which 6 were total write-offs.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: A document prepared on 17 July 1943 by the 5th Guards Tank Army headquarters summarised the combat losses incurred by the formation from 12 to 16 July inclusive for all of its five corps, as well as smaller units directly subordinated to the army headquarters. The document reported the following irrecoverable losses: 222 T-34s, 89 T-70s, 12 Churchills, 8 SU-122s, 3 SU-76s, and 240 support vehicles. The document reported damaged vehicles still under repair as 143 T-34s, 56 T-70s, 7 Churchills, 3 SU-122s, and 3 SU-76s, with no figures for support vehicles. The document reported personnel casualties as 2,940 killed in action, 3,510 wounded in action, and 1,157 missing in action. This totals 334 irrevocable losses in tanks and self-propelled guns, with another 212 tanks and self-propelled guns under repair, and 7,607 casualties. The historian Karl-Heinz Frieser argued that the majority of the losses reported in the document must have occurred on 12 July.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Soviet personnel losses at Prokhorovka for 12 July were estimated by the historian Christer Bergström to have been as high as 5,500 men. For equipment damaged or destroyed, David Glantz and Jonathan House estimate that the whole 5th Guards Tank Army lost at least 400 tanks in its attacks on 12 July. The Soviet historians Grigoriy Koltunov and Boris Soloviev estimate about 300 tanks and self-propelled guns of 5th Guards Tank Army were damaged or destroyed on 12 July. The study by the US Army's Center for Strategy and Force Evaluation reports that the 2nd Guards, 18th and 29th Tanks Corps altogether permanently lost 144 tanks on 12 July, not including self-propelled guns. George Nipe estimates that 600–650 tanks of the 5th Guards Tank Army were damaged or destroyed while fighting both the II SS-Panzer Corps and III Panzer Corps on 12 July.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Debate exists over the significance and outcome of the battle. The German forces destroyed many Soviet tanks and temporarily degraded the striking power of the 5th Guards Tank Army, but they were unable to take Prokhorovka or break through into open ground before developments elsewhere forced the termination of Operation Citadel. For the Soviet side, the massive armoured attack of 12 July failed to destroy the II SS-Panzer Corps, but succeeded in exhausting the Germans and eventually contributed to checking their advance. Thus, neither the 5th Guards Tank Army nor the II SS-Panzer Corps accomplished their objectives for 12 July.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: While the battle is generally considered a tactical success for the German side due to the high numbers of Soviet tanks destroyed, in the wider perspective the Soviets successfully completed their defensive operation at Prokhorovka and created the conditions for their decisive counteroffensive, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev, just as planned. Ultimately there was no German breakthrough at Prokhorovka or elsewhere in the Kursk salient, becoming the first time in the Second World War that a major German offensive was halted before it could break through enemy defences and penetrate into their operational or strategic depths. With the end of Operation Citadel, the strategic initiative permanently swung over to the Soviet Union for the rest of the war.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The battle has been widely described as the largest tank engagement or battle in military history, involving 1,200–1,500 tanks and sometimes up to 2,000, but this is incorrect as the battle did not involve that many tanks. The exaggerated figures originated from erroneous Soviet intelligence estimates of German armour reported during and after the battle, and subsequent postwar accounts that repeated this erroneous narrative. Some Soviet estimates reported figures as high as 800 German tanks and assault guns attacking Prokhorovka on 12 July.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Comparing Soviet and German archives, the total number of tanks and other heavy armoured fighting vehicles such as assault guns and self-propelled guns deployed by the 5th Guards Tank Army and the II SS-Panzer Corps around Prokhorovka during the battle numbered only about 910. The II SS-Panzer Corps never had the number of tanks and assault guns attributed to it by Soviet estimates at any point during Operation Citadel, not even at the start when it fielded only 494. Even if the definition of the battle was broadened to include the III Panzer Corps and the portion of the 5th Guards Tank Army that faced it, the total number of tanks and other heavy armoured fighting vehicles comes out at a maximum of 1,299. In contrast, for example, the Battle of Brody during Operation Barbarossa involved over 2,000 tanks, up to 6,000 tanks over the duration of the battle, engaged in combat over a 70 km front. Nonetheless, the Battle of Prokhorovka is still regarded as one of the largest tank battles in military history.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: High figures for tanks lost during the battle have been widely attributed to the Germans, but these are incorrect. For example, Rotmistrov in his postwar accounts of the battle stated that the Germans lost 350–400 tanks, including 70 Tigers, and 3,500–10,000 soldiers on 12 July, and a Soviet General Staff study of the Battle of Kursk reported that the Germans lost 300 tanks, 20 assault guns and over 4,500 soldiers in the battle from 12 to 16 July inclusive. However, archival data of the German units involved show that much lower losses were incurred during the battle.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: The historians David Glantz and Jonathan House asserted that the original intention of the 4th Panzer Army command was to drive northwards, with its two panzer corps driving abreast toward Oboyan and then Kursk but that on 9 July, heavy Soviet resistance along the road to Oboyan forced Hoth to alter his plan disastrously by ordering the II SS-Panzer Corps to swing from northwest to the northeast toward Prokhorovka. Therefore, according to Glantz and House, the Battle of Prokhorovka was not a result of original intentions or planned for but was engendered by tactically-flawed late improvisations to the original German plan.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: That narrative has been disputed by the historian Steven Newton, who dedicated a section of his 2002 publication about Operation Citadel to refuting it. Using first-hand accounts of German officers who executed Operation Citadel and scrutinizing Glantz's and House's sources, Newton contended that the plan for the 4th Panzer Army to swing from the Oboyan direction to Prokhorovka was decided as early as May 1943, well before Operation Citadel had commenced, as German planners of Army Group South had always expected an encounter between the 4th Panzer Army and Soviet reserves that would arrive at the Psel River and Prokhorovka. Other historians have corroborated those conclusions. Newton also asserts that has always been the accepted narrative in postwar literature.


title: Battle of Prokhorovka

text: Some historians state that the German troops did not expect the Soviet armoured counterattack and were taken by surprise on 12 July. However, other historians have stated or argued that the German commanders were aware of or at least anticipated the Soviet armour that was massing around Prokhorovka and so the troops could not have been genuinely surprised. The German historian Dieter Brand argues that even though the German commanders expected a major Soviet armoured deployment at Prokhorovka, the frontline German troops were indeed largely taken by surprise when the Soviets counterattacked on the morning of 12 July.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir, sold under the brand name Norvir, is an antiretroviral drug used along with other medications to treat HIV/AIDS. This combination treatment is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Ritonavir is a protease inhibitor and is used with other protease inhibitors. It may also be used in combination with other medications to treat hepatitis C and COVID-19. It is taken by mouth. Tablets of ritonavir are not bioequivalent to capsules, as the tablets may result in higher peak plasma concentrations.


title: Ritonavir

text: Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and numbness of the hands and feet. Serious side effects include liver problems, pancreatitis, allergic reactions, and arrythmias. Serious interactions may occur with a number of other medications including amiodarone and simvastatin. At low doses it is considered to be acceptable for use during pregnancy. Ritonavir is of the protease inhibitor class. Typically, however, it is used to inhibit the enzyme that metabolizes other protease inhibitors. This inhibition allows lower doses of these latter medications to be used.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir was patented in 1989 and came into medical use in 1996. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Ritonavir capsules were approved as a generic medication in the United States in 2020.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1-infected patients.


title: Ritonavir

text: In December 2021, the combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir was granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of coronavirus disease COVID-19. The co-packaged medications are sold under the brand name Paxlovid. Paxlovid is not authorized for the pre-exposure or post-exposure prevention of COVID-19 or for initiation of treatment in those requiring hospitalization due to severe or critical COVID-19. On 31 December 2021, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the same combination "for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19".


title: Ritonavir

text: When administered at the initially tested higher doses effective for anti-HIV therapy, the side effects of ritonavir are those shown below.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir exhibits hepatic activity. It induces CYP1A2 and inhibits the major P450 isoforms 3A4 and 2D6. Concomitant therapy of ritonavir with a variety of medications may result in serious and sometimes fatal drug interactions.


title: Ritonavir

text: Due to it being a strong inhibitor (that causes at least a five-fold increase in the plasma AUC values, or more than 80% decrease in clearance) of both Cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP2D6 and CYP3A4, ritonavir can severely potentiate and prolong the half-life and/or increase the blood concentration of phenobarbital, primidone, carbamazepine, phenytoin, PDE5 inhibitors like sildenafil, opioids such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, pethidine and fentanyl, antiarrhythmic agents such as amiodarone, propafenone and disopyramide, Immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus, voclosporin and sirolimus, neuroleptics like clozapine, lurasidone and pimozide, as well as some chemotherapeutic agents, benzodiazepines and some ergot derivatives


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir was originally developed as an inhibitor of HIV protease, one of a family of pseudo-"C"-symmetric small molecule inhibitors.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir is rarely used for its own antiviral activity but remains widely used as a booster of other protease inhibitors. More specifically, ritonavir is used to inhibit a particular enzyme, in intestines, liver, and elsewhere, that normally metabolizes protease inhibitors, cytochrome P450-3A4 (CYP3A4). The drug binds to and inhibits CYP3A4, so a low dose can be used to enhance other protease inhibitors. This discovery drastically reduced the adverse effects and improved the efficacy of protease inhibitors and HAART. However, because of the general role of CYP3A4 in xenobiotic metabolism, dosing with ritonavir also affects the efficacy of numerous other medications, adding to the challenge of prescribing drugs concurrently.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir was demonstrated to have an "in vitro" potency of EC=0.02µM and highly sustained concentration in plasma after oral administration in several species.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir was initially derived from a moderately potent and orally bioavailable small molecule, A-80987. The P3 and P2′ heterocyclic groups of A-80987 were redesigned to create an analogue, now known as ritonavir, with improved pharmacokinetic properties to the original.


title: Ritonavir

text: Full details of the synthesis of ritonavir were first published by scientists from Abbott Laboratories.


title: Ritonavir

text: In the first step shown, an aldehyde derived from phenylalanine is treated with zinc dust in the presence of vanadium(III) chloride. This results in a pinacol coupling reaction which dimerizes the material to provide an intermediate which is converted to its epoxide and then reduced to (2S,3S,5S)-2,5-diamino-1,6-diphenylhexan-3-ol. Importantly, this retains the absolute stereochemistry of the amino acid precursor. The diamine is then treated sequentially with two thiazole derivatives, each linked by an amide bond, to provide ritonavir.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir is sold as Norvir by AbbVie, Inc.. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ritonavir on March 1, 1996, As a result of the introduction of "highly active antiretroviral thearap[ies]" the annual U.S. HIV-associated death rate fell from over 50,000 to about 18,000 over a period of two years.


title: Ritonavir

text: In 2014, the FDA approved a combination of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4.


title: Ritonavir

text: In 2021, a combination of ritonavir with nirmatrelvir, an orally active 3C-like protease inhibitor, was developed for the treatment of COVID-19. Ritonavir serves to slow down metabolism of nirmatrelvir by cytochrome enzymes to maintain higher circulating concentrations of the main drug. In November that year, Pfizer announced positive phase 2/3 results, including 89% reduction in hospitalizations when given within three days after symptom onset.


title: Ritonavir

text: Ritonavir was originally dispensed as a capsule that did not require refrigeration. This contained a crystal form of ritonavir that is now called form I. However, like many drugs, crystalline ritonavir can exhibit polymorphism, i.e., the same molecule can crystallize into more than one crystal type, or polymorph, each of which contains the same repeating molecule but in different crystal packings/arrangements. The solubility and hence the bioavailability can vary in the different arrangements, and this was observed for forms I and II of ritonavir.


title: Ritonavir

text: During development—ritonavir was introduced in 1996—only the crystal form now called form I was found; however, in 1998, a lower free energy, more stable polymorph, form II, was discovered. This more stable crystal form was less soluble, which resulted in significantly lower bioavailability. The compromised oral bioavailability of the drug led to temporary removal of the oral capsule formulation from the market. As a consequence of the fact that even a trace amount of form II can result in the conversion of the more bioavailable form I into form II, the presence of form II threatened the ruin of existing supplies of the oral capsule formulation of ritonavir; and indeed, form II was found in production lines, effectively halting ritonavir production. Abbott (now AbbVie) withdrew the capsules from the market, and prescribing physicians were encouraged to switch to a Norvir suspension. It has been estimated that Abbott lost more than $250 million USD as a result, and the incident is often cited as a high-profile example of disappearing polymorphs.


title: Ritonavir

text: The company's research and development teams ultimately solved the problem by replacing the capsule formulation with a refrigerated gelcap. In 2000, Abbott (now AbbVie) received FDA-approval for a tablet formulation of lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) which contained a preparation of ritonavir that did not require refrigeration. Ritonavir produced in a solid dispersion by melt-extrusion was found to remain in form I, and was re-introduced commercially in 2010.


title: Ritonavir

text: In 2003, Abbott (AbbVie, Inc.) raised the price of a Norvir course from per day to per day, leading to claims of price gouging by patients' groups and some members of Congress. Consumer group Essential Inventions petitioned the NIH to override the Norvir patent, but the NIH announced on August 4, 2004, that it lacked the legal right to allow generic production of Norvir.


title: Ritonavir

text: In 2020, the fixed-dose combination of lopinavir/ritonavir was found not to work in severe COVID-19. In the trial the medication was started around thirteen days after the start of symptoms. Virtual screening of the 1930 FDA-approved drugs followed by molecular dynamics analysis predicted ritonavir blocks the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (hACE2) receptor, which is critical for the virus entry into human cells.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: Lyor Cohen born October 3, 1959) is an American record executive and entrepreneur. Cohen has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def Jam. After Def Jam, Cohen took on a leadership role at Warner Music Group. In September 2012, Cohen resigned from Warner and started his own independent label, 300 Entertainment. On September 28, 2016, Cohen was named YouTube's Global Head of Music.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: Born in New York, Cohen grew up in Los Angeles. In 1981, he earned a degree in global marketing and finance from the University of Miami School of Business at the University of Miami.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: After graduating from the University of Miami, he worked briefly in the Beverly Hills office of Bank Leumi.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: Late in 1984, after promoting a pair of rock and rap shows at The Mix Club in Hollywood (one featured Run-DMC, the other featured Whodini), Cohen moved to New York to take a job at Simmons' Rush Productions (later called Rush Artist Management). Beginning as Run-DMC's road manager, Cohen quickly began taking on additional responsibilities, working on behalf of an artist roster that included Kurtis Blow, Whodini, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. By 1987, Cohen himself was signing artists to Rush. These acts included Slick Rick, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, Stetsasonic, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: Cohen credits Jam Master Jay with teaching him the basics of the music business. "[Jay] showed me how to settle shows and fulfill my responsibilities to the group," Cohen told "Vibe" magazine. "It's those lessons that I rely on daily to do what I do now." Before long, according to "Rolling Stone", Cohen "became known for his no-nonsense approach to business, his negotiating skill, his ability to forward the plot". It was Cohen who brokered Run-DMC's endorsement deal with Adidas, "one of the first big commercial deals for a rap group". This deal was followed by others that paired up Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Le Coq Sportif, LL Cool J with Troop sportswear, and Run-DMC with New Coke.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: By 1989, Rush—under Cohen's leadership—was recognized as "the premier management operation" in the Rap field. Steve Stoute, in "The Tanning of America", credits Cohen with "[believing] early on in the cultural melting pot that was being brewed for and by the younger generation". In his own words, Lyor Cohen has said, "I was determined to prove people wrong, to prove to the gatekeepers of the industry that we had a place here and we weren't going to relinquish our opportunity."


title: Lyor Cohen

text: Cohen began transitioning from artist management to the label side of the music business in 1989, when he and Simmons formed Rush Associated Labels. The goal was to capitalize on the ability of established recording artists to sniff out new talent by signing boutique label deals with them. It paid off most notably with Jam Master Jay's JMJ Records, which brought Onyx to Def Jam in 1992 and Jayo Felony in 1994. By then Cohen was starting to groom a new generation of executives, notably Chris Lighty, Julie Greenwald, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Mike Kyser.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: In 1994 Cohen teamed up with Simmons to negotiate Def Jam's departure from Sony (which had been distributing Def Jam since 1985) for a new home at PolyGram. By then, having become Simmons's partner in the label several years earlier, Cohen was running Def Jam day-to-day. (Rick Rubin, Def Jam's founder, had left Def Jam in 1988.)


title: Lyor Cohen

text: Under PolyGram and Cohen's leadership, Def Jam prospered. Cohen worked with a brand-new roster of successful rappers, like Redman, Method Man, Jay-Z, DMX, Ja Rule and Ludacris. Concurrently, Cohen oversaw custom label deals with Roc-A-Fella Records, Murder Inc., and Disturbing Tha Peace.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: In June 1998, after the PolyGram / Universal merger, Island, Mercury, and Def Jam were merged into a new unit called The Island Def Jam, Cohen was named co-president. In the process, he became (as he himself noted) "the first Hip-Hop president in charge of a major label".


title: Lyor Cohen

text: This promotion required Cohen to expand his portfolio to include artists who didn't rap, among them Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Elvis Costello, Ashanti, Nickelback, Slipknot, Sum 41, The Killers, and Slayer. In 2001, Cohen was involved in Island Def Jam's purchase of Roadrunner, a heavy-metal label, as well as the deal to distribute Rick Rubin's American. In 2002, American released Johnny Cash's "". The last album released by Cash before his death, it included Cash's hit version of Trent Reznor's "Hurt".


title: Lyor Cohen

text: In January 2004 Cohen left Island Def Jam for a position with the Edgar Bronfman Jr. investor group-financed Warner, which was subsequently spun off from Time Warner. Ultimately, Cohen was named WMG's chairman and chief executive.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: By 2006, the positive effects of Cohen's leadership were encapsulated in a story for the "Los Angeles Times", which noted: "Under Cohen, Warner Music has thrived, due in part to the executive's innovative initiatives, such as an incubator program that builds relationships with independent label executives the company aspires to hire." Warner's success with Mike Jones and the rock band Paramore both grew out of the incubator program.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: At Warner, Cohen oversaw the merger of the Atlantic and Elektra labels into Atlantic, and placed Julie Greenwald, his protégée, into a top executive position there. In 2009, Cohen elevated Greenwald to chairman and chief operating officer of Atlantic, a promotion that established Greenwald as the highest-ranking woman executive at an American record company. Greenwald's successes at Atlantic have included The Black Keys, Bruno Mars, Death Cab for Cutie, Jason Mraz, Kid Rock, Lupe Fiasco, Plies, T.I., and Wiz Khalifa.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: In September 2006, Cohen oversaw an agreement with YouTube that allowed the site to show videos by Warner artists in exchange for a share of YouTube's advertising revenue. According to "The New York Times", the deal marked "the first time a major record company [had] licensed content to YouTube". In 2011, Cohen oversaw an agreement on behalf of the Warner roster with Spotify, the digital music service. Eventually, Cohen oversaw all of Warner's digital initiatives.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: In September 2012 Cohen resigned from Warner where he served as one of their dominant creative executives.


title: Lyor Cohen

text: There was much speculation about Cohen's next move. Cohen's own assessment of his career was broadly predictive. "I've been an outsider in the traditional record industry for more than 25 years," he told the "Los Angeles Times". "I'm an entrepreneur, so I encourage risk-taking. And the only way to encourage risk-taking is to take risks yourself, which means sometimes you'll fail, or people will say you are too aggressive or controversial. But someone needs to jump into the pool first for a party to get really great. I've always been willing to be that guy." In November 2013, Cohen revealed he was starting a new company named "300", after the 300 Spartan Warriors who fought the famous war against the Persians seen in the movie 300. He stated the company would be part record label, part marketing company, part distributor, with major backing from Google and Atlantic.