What codename is commonly used for the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945?

Operation August Storm is a common Western codename for the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. The campaign began on 9 August, when Soviet forces attacked Japanese-held Manchuria and related Japanese puppet states.

Its formal military designation was the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, also called the Manchurian Operation. Soviet forces attacked from several directions, using large formations of troops, armor, artillery, and aircraft against the Japanese Kwantung Army.

The offensive also extended into Inner Mongolia, northern Korea, southern Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. It rapidly defeated Japanese forces in Manchuria and helped reshape the political and territorial situation in Northeast Asia after the war.

Operation August Storm is often discussed alongside the atomic bombings because both occurred during the final week before Japan’s surrender announcement. Historians continue to debate the relative weight of these shocks in Japan’s decision to capitulate.