[1] The purpose of the operation was to encircle and destroy the enemy grouping in the area of the city of Yelets, and then strike into the rear of the troops of the 2nd German Tank Army.

They diverted part of the forces of the 2nd Panzer Army to themselves, thus providing substantial assistance to the troops of the left wing of the Western Front, who were performing the main task.

In the rear of the 13th Army in the Terbuny Area, a mechanized cavalry group of troops was urgently created from the front reserves under the command of Lieutenant General Fyodor Kostenko: 5th Cavalry Corps (3rd, 14th and 32nd Cavalry Divisions), 1st Guards Rifle Division, 129th Tank and 34th Motorized Rifle Brigades, 4th, 7th Guards Mortars and 642nd Cannon Artillery Regiments, in addition, the 121st Rifle Division was transferred to the operational subordination of the group commander from December 6.

The 5th Cavalry Corps and the 1st Guards Rifle Division broke through to the flank and rear of the enemy grouping in the general direction of Yelets and to the west.

The Chief of the German General Staff of the Ground Forces, Franz Halder, again sadly wrote on this occasion: "the command of the troops on the front sector between Tula and Kursk has gone bankrupt".