Transcaucasian Front
Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now the Kabardino-Balkar Republic), was occupied by Nazi German troops on October 28, 1942. For two months, Soviet troops of the Transcaucasian Front were able to prevent German troops from crossing the Baksan River in an attempt to take Black Sea ports and oil fields, during which the city was heavily damaged. On January 3, 1943 of the 37th Army liberated the city from German control. Some 4,200 people were killed in the conflict.