German bastions continued to hold out against Soviet assaults.

The remnants of the detachment saw heavy fighting during the final Soviet assaults to annihilate the trapped forces.

On 3 February 1944, the Soviet assault began.

By this time, Massoud had mustered enough men to openly resist the Soviet assault.

However, it remains unknown why the Soviet assault was halted as some Russian archives are still closed to historians.

The gunner drew a slow and careful bead on a tank in the van of the Soviet assault.

That Soviet assault had been cut down by a third but still they pushed through the corner of the field.

Several strong Soviet assaults launched at the height of winter caught the exhausted Germans off guard.

The final Soviet assault on the citadel started on 18 February.

However, the Finns succeeded in repelling the main Soviet assault.