Supplies and intelligence between Russia and Germany during June-December 1941 Operation Barbarossa, which was named after Frederick Barbarossa, the medieval German ruler, was the code name given to Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on June 22, 1941. The very ambitious operation marked both a declaration of Hitler’s desire to conquer the Russian territories and the start of a war which proved most important in deciding the victors of the war. (Keegan 42)