[4] The 17th Army, commanded by Richard Ruoff and Erwin Jaenecke, constructed a defensive position across the Kuban River delta in the Taman Peninsula, which was completed in January 1943.

[5] German forces, moving from positions along the Terek River, fully occupied the new defensive network in February 1943 while under constant attack by the Red Army.

[4] The bridgehead, originally intended to provide a staging area for future attempts to gain control of the Caspian oil fields, was re-tasked on 3 September 1943,[6] as the German situation on the Eastern Front continued to deteriorate.

[4] The Kuban Bridgehead then served to evacuate German forces as the withdrawal of Army Group South to the Dnieper Line had become inevitable.

[4] The first defenses of the Kuban Bridgehead were breached on 15–16 September 1943 in the area of Novorossiysk during the Novorossiysk–Taman Operation [ru] of the Soviet North Caucasian Front.