Very rare Original World War 2 issue German K98 bolt action rifle [ Karabiner 98 kurz] wooden frame+metal parts,fantastic condition with number from an Armoury near Pyriatyn Airport in Ukraine that was emptied out after the Russian invasion in 2022.

The rifles would have probably been used by soldiers in the 4th Panzer Army Killed, wounded or captured after the second battle of Kiev in November-December 1943.

By the 17th November 1943 the 4th Panzer Army was in deep trouble. However, the situation changed with the arrival of Hermann Balck’s s XLVIII Panzer Corps, Balck drove his forces north to Brusyliv and then west to retake Zhitomir. Rybalko sent the 7th Guards Tank Corps to counter the German assault. A huge tank battle ensued, which continued until the latter part of November, when the autumn mud halted all operations. By 5 December, the mud had frozen. 48th Panzer Corps conducted a wide sweeping attack north of Zhitomir. Catching the Red Army by surprise, the German forces sought to encircle the Soviet 60th Army and the 13th Corps. They drove eastward, putting the Soviets on the defensive until stopped. Although the Soviets had failed to break the rail link with Army Group Center or envelop Army Group South, they had broken the Dnieper line, taken Kiev, the third biggest city in the Soviet Union, and inflicted significant casualties on the 4th Panzer Army.