Operation Koltso Operation Koltso ( Operation Ring ) was the last part of the Battle of Stalingrad . It resulted in the capitulation of the remaining German forces encircled in the city . The attack . The operation was launched on 10 January 1943 with a mass artillery bombardment of the German positions outside the city by the seven encircling Soviet armies . During the first three days of the operation , the Soviets lost 26 , 000 men and over half their tanks . The eastern half of the Stalingrad pocket had been lost by 17 January . The fighting then paused for four days while the Soviet forces regrouped and redeployed for the next phase of the operation . The second phase of the offensive began on 20 January with a Soviet push toward the airfield at Gumrak . Two days later , the airfield was occupied by the Soviets . Its capture meant an end to the evacuation of the German wounded and that any further air supply would be by parachute . Paulus on 22 January sent a radio message to OKH " Russians in action in 6 km wide on both sides Voroponovo , some with flags unfurled to the east . No way to close the gap . Withdrawal to neighboring fronts who are also without ammunition , useless and not feasible . Supply with ammunition from other fronts also no longer possible . Food at an end . More than 12 , 000 unprovided for wounded in the encirclement . What orders shall I give the troops who have no more ammunition and will be further attacked with heavy artillery , tanks and massed infantry ? Fastest decision necessary because dissolution in some places already started . Confidence in the leadership still exists . " The Germans retreated back into the city itself . But resistance to the Soviet advance gradually diminished due to the exhaustion of all supplies on the German side . On 25 January , General von Seydlitz told his divisional commanders to decide for themselves on the matter of surrender . He was immediately relieved of his command by Paulus . Seydlitz later fled the German lines under German fire and personally surrendered to the Soviets . On 26 January , detachments of 21st Army met up with the 13th Guards Division to the north of the Mamaev Kurgan which cut the German pocket in Stalingrad in two . Paulus and many of the senior German commanders were in the smaller southern pocket based in the city center of Stalingrad . The Northern pocket was led by XI Corps commander General Strecker and centered in the area around the Stalingrad tractor factory . In bitter fighting , the Soviets gradually cleared the city center . By 31 January , German resistance in the southern pocket was confined to individual buildings . Soviet forces reached the headquarters of Paulus in the Univermag Department Store and the remaining German soldiers ceased resistance . Soviet Staff officers entered the building and negotiated terms with General Schmidt . Paulus refused to directly participate . In Soviet captivity , Paulus denied having surrendered . He claimed to have been taken by surprise . He refused to issue an order to the remaining Germans in the southern pocket to surrender . He denied having the authority to issue an order for the Northern pocket to surrender . The entire Soviet force at Stalingrad now concentrated on the northern pocket . Dense artillery fire was used to reduce resistance . Soviet forces then followed up destroying any remaining bunkers often with direct fire at short range from tanks or artillery . General Strecker continued to resist based on the idea that tying down the multiple Soviet Armies at Stalingrad as long as possible would help the German situation elsewhere in Russia . The battle ends . By the early morning of 2 February , Strecker was informed that one of his officers had gone to negotiate surrender terms with the Soviets . He then decided to put an end to the fighting . He issued a radio message back to Germany saying that his command had performed its duty to the last man and then surrendered to the Soviets . Organized German resistance in the city ended .