In the week after Kiev was captured, Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army pushed the Germans back west some 60km as they scrambled to avoid encirclement of Army Group South and halt the penetration at operational depth. 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH) had recently returned from rear service and recuperation in Italy, and it was with them and the 1st Panzer Division that Manstein would stymie the Soviet onslaught…
