On the first day, Soviet units advancing along the Black Sea coast captured the important port of Nikolayev, while those in the northern sector broke through, spearheaded by Pliev's Cavalry-Mechanized Group.

In the course of this retreat in early April 1944, the 6th Army sustained further heavy personnel losses and lost a considerable part of its artillery, anti-tank guns, motor and armoured vehicles in the mud.

With the Cavalry-Mechanized Group capturing the important Razdelnaya railway station on 4 April 1944, the front of the 6th Army was split in two – one part being pushed back to Tiraspol area, the other being enveloped from the northwest and pressed against Odessa.

On the evening of 9 April, Soviet units reached the outskirts of Odessa, with German-Romanian forces and their rear services making a chaotic withdrawal to the Ovidiopol area, the only open path left, after which they crossed the Dniester Estuary.

[8] In the latter, Rodion Malinovsky's 3rd Ukrainian Front failed to destroy the German 6th Army, but secured bridgeheads that it spent much of the second half of March fighting to consolidate and expand.

The 37th and 46th Armies, advancing behind the Cavalry-Mechanized Group, were also assigned to capture the transportation hub of Razdelnaya to the northwest of Odessa and cut off the German line of retreat toward the Dniester.

[29] As a result of the costly and difficult withdrawal in conditions of rasputitsa during the Bereznegovatoye-Snigirevka offensive last month, all divisions of the 6th Army were heavily depleted and exhausted by the end of March 1944.

An improvement is only now gradually taking place, although the high number of foot and cold diseases, severe lice and the general physical exhaustion must not be overlooked.In addition to the great shortage of officers, there were other serious combat losses.

In this regard, the losses fell disproportionately on the infantry units and their experienced commanders and soldiers, whose level of training and experience could not be replaced, as highlighted in Angelis' report on the condition of the 6th Army at the start of April 1944.

As a result, a sizable number of soldiers were put out of action due to various type of sickness (severe lice infestation, intestinal disorders, trench foot, frostbite etc.).

On 28 March the Cavalry-Mechanized Group received the order to concentrate in the area of Aleksandrovka and Voznesensk by the morning of the next day, cross on the bridges of the 37th Army, and decisively advance in the general direction of Moldavka, Mostovoye, and Berezovka.

A 67-man detachment commanded by Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Olshansky of the 384th Separate Naval Infantry Battalion of the Black Sea Fleet was landed by fishing boats near Nikolayev on the night of 25–26 March.

German aviation continued to make itself felt as the corps reported a bombing raid in the afternoon of 1 April consisting of 50 Ju 87 dive bombers that burned out nineteen T-34s and wrecked two.

German air groups of 30 to 40 aircraft systematically bombed the frontline troops, while the Soviet infantry and mechanized forces experienced ammunition and fuel shortages.

His men had already fled.The situation for the Axis troops in Odessa worsened on 5 April when the Cavalry-Mechanized Group, pushing ahead of the infantry for the first time in the offensive, reached Strasburg on the northern coast of the Dniester estuary with its 30th Cavalry Division.

[55] The advance of the Cavalry-Mechanized Group blocked the retreat of the German troops east of the Dniester, with Pliyev's forces placing strongpoints at major road junctions.

[55] The majority of the XXIX Army Corps managed to reach new intermediate defensive lines east of the Dniester defending the eastern approaches to Grigoriopol and Tiraspol.

[55] The divisions of the corps lost their cohesion and broke into regimental and smaller groups, suffering heavy losses in men and equipment as they fled towards the western bank of the Dniester.

Among the equipment which had to be left behind and fell into enemy hands were numerous motor vehicles unable to advance any farther on the muddy roads, guns whose horse-teams were completely debilitated, as well as stocks of ammunition, fuel, rations and spare parts of every description for the evacuation of which no transportation was available.At the same time, the center and left wing of the front approached closer to Odessa, defended by LXXII Army Corps and part of the XXXXIV Army corps, with elements of six divisions and separate units.

[56] The condition of the German forces in the Tiraspol bridgehead was particularly bad, as noted in the war diary (Kriegstagebuch) of Army Group South Ukraine, entry for 11 April 1944.

[65]The 8th Guards Army and the Cavalry-Mechanized Group fought in intense battles with Axis troops retreating from Odessa, who sought to hold the fortifications in front of the bridge in the Ovidiopol area, in order keep the crossing to the west bank of the Dniester estuary open.

The supply of the enemy, which has not yet been smooth, should become gradually more favorable as a result of the steadily improving railroad situation- the [railway] line to Razdelnaya is [expected] to be ready for operation by 25 April.

These efforts of the troops are limited by the still severely delayed supply in all areas, especially in combat personnel.The offensive resulted in the defeat of the German 6th Army, with its April 1944 casualties numbering 4,672 killed, 16,205 wounded, 6,014 missing, and 6,479 sick for a total of 33,370.

Similarly, the remnants of the badly battered 2nd Parachute Division, whose infantry combat strength was reduced to only 242 soldiers on 17 April 1944,[72] received order on 6 May 1944 to prepare for withdrawal from the Eastern Front back to Germany for rebuilding.

[78] With the German front stabilizing in the second half of April 1944 along the Dniester, the situation of the 6th Army began to gradually improve, although its units were still heavily depleted in personnel and materiel.

In addition, the condition of the remaining vehicles is inadequate due to obsolescence, overuse and lack of spare parts.Supplying the divisions with divisional resources is only possible over very short distances, as their supply troops [Nachschubtruppen] have almost no motorized transport space.

[87] Soviet tankers criticized the M4A2 Shermans and Valentine Mk IIIs for their poor cross-country mobility and noted that a lack of track replacements made their usage "inexpedient."

[88] Advancing 180 kilometers, Soviet troops liberated several major settlements, including the important Black Sea Ports of Nikolayev, Odessa and Ochakov.

The advance of the Red Army in the Odessa region worsened the situation of the Axis troops cut off in Crimea, assisting their quick destruction in the Crimean offensive.

[89][90] The German forces, having received urgently needed personnel replacements[7] and withdrawn to a more defensible positions, launched several counter-attacks in late April and early May, in order to weaken the Soviet stance on the western bank of the Dniester.