Raseiniai tank battles, June 23–26, 1941.
II World War II

On June 22, 1941, the German-Russian war began, and in the first days of the war, one of the largest clashes between the armies of both countries in Lithuania took place near Raseiniai. The Battle of Raseiniai involved the 4th Panzer Group (commander Erich Kurt Richard Hoepner), the 3rd Panzer Group (commander Hermann Hoth) of the German army, and the 28th Panzer Division (commander Ivan Chernyakhovsky) and the 23rd Panzer Division (commander Timofey Orlenko) of the USSR military forces. Germany used 245 tanks in the battle, and the USSR used 749 tanks; the fighting lasted four days.

On June 22, 1941, H. Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group was attacked by Soviet tank units near Raseiniai, but some of the German tanks successfully broke through and continued their attack. German bombers destroyed some of the Soviet tanks. In the evening of the same day, 300 Soviet tanks headed towards Varniai and Kražiai, but near Kaltinėnai, the tanks were fired upon by German artillery.

June 23, 1941. The 23rd Panzer Division of the USSR, having reached Dubysas, launched an attack on the 4th Panzer Group of the German army. The German forces lined up about 100 tanks for defense along the river. Meanwhile, the Soviet tanks forded the river and, under fire from German artillery, destroyed the German army's anti-tank artillery positions in the forest. The 4th Panzer Group of the German army launched a counterattack, but was forced to retreat due to the retaliatory fire of Soviet tanks. At that time, the USSR Panzer Division was moving towards Raseiniai, but was forced to retreat under fire from German artillery.

On June 24, 1941, the Red Army tank forces were ordered to retreat to Latvia, but due to the chaos of the war, the order did not reach them. On the same day, the 23rd Tank Division was surrounded. Its commanders decided to form several strike groups from the remaining tanks and try to break through the encirclement ring. On the morning of June 25, these groups unsuccessfully tried to break out of the encirclement near Šaukots. On the same morning, the 28th Soviet Tank Division tried to break through Vosiliškis, but the tanks that broke through were caught by the Germans who turned around. In this way, German units stopped about 18 Soviet tanks, which were thrown into the forest near the village of Sokaičiai.

On June 25, 1941, the Red Army's 28th Panzer Division once again attempted to break through the German defenses between Kaltinėnai and Kražiai, but without success. Eventually, German units began to surround the units of the 28th Panzer Division that had retreated into the forest, which managed to break through towards Užventis. The next morning, German units broke into the forest where the remnants of the 28th Panzer Division were hiding, and destroyed almost all of the last tanks of this division.

In the Battle of Raseiniai, the Soviet army lost 746 tanks, while the German army lost some of the tanks used in the battle (an unknown number). After the successful battle, the German army was able to continue advancing on the Eastern Front.