Refitted and renamed 3rd Guards Tank Army, Rybalko's army played crucial roles in the strategic counter-offensives that followed the Battle of Kursk (Operation Kutuzov), in the recapture of Kiev (6 November 1943). The winter and spring of 1944 saw a succession of large operations aiming at the destruction of the southern wing of the Wehrmacht. These operations (Zhitomir-Berdichev in Dec 1943 – Jan 1944, Proskurov-Chernivtsi in March–April 1944) succeeded at least in the complete liberation of Ukraine by the end of the summer. In these various operations, Rybalko showed impressive tactical and operational skills, particularly during the Lvov-Sandomierz Operation.