On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa begins. Just two years after signing a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, Hitler breaks the deal and sends his forces to invade Russia. The Germans—successful at first—win a string of victories across the region, as they close in on Stalin and the Kremlin. But their luck would soon change. Arriving at the gates of Moscow that October, the Nazis met a strong resistance from the Red Army, resulting in a months-long, bloody winter fight that would eventually end in high casualties on both sides and ultimately Germany's defeat.