During World War II, Operation Uranus was the Soviet counterattack against German forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.

The double envelopment was launched on November 19, 1942 with twin attacks that met each other at Kalach four days later. More than a quarter million Axis soldiers were cut off from supplies just as the harsh winter began to take hold. The situation for the German attackers of Stalingrad seemed desperate and on November 22 General Friedrich von Paulus sent Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th Army was surrounded . Success of the operation was attributed to breakthroughs in Soviet cryptography.

Forbidden to break out from the encirclement, the German Sixth Army fell to a number of Soviet ground attacks on January 31, 1943. 100,000 soldiers surrendered to the Russians, although only about 6,000 survived captivity to be returned to Germany years after the end of the war. Conducted in rough coordination with the Operation Mars near Moscow.

The Red Army linked up so rapidly that it had to be re-enacted for propaganda filming several days later.

Such a dramatic use of the double envelopment or 'pincer movement' had not been seen in military history since Hannibal defeated a Roman force in the battle of Cannae in 216 BC during the Punic Wars. However during the primary stages of the Eastern Front, the Red Army were subjected to numerous envelopments, resulting in a loss of equipment and men.