214th Rifle Division
The 214th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed in the months just before the start of the German invasion, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. It was moved to the fighting front to join 22nd Army in late June and took part in the fighting between Vitebsk and Nevel in early July, escaping from encirclement in the process, and then played a significant role in the liberation of Velikiye Luki, the first Soviet city to be retaken from the invading armies. In October it was again encircled near Vyasma during Operation Typhoon and was soon destroyed.
| 214th Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1946 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry |
| Engagements | Operation Barbarossa Battle of Smolensk (1941) Operation Typhoon Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Ring Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation Chernigov-Poltava Strategic Offensive Battle of the Dniepr Kremenchug-Pyatikhatki Offensive Kirovograd offensive Uman–Botoșani offensive First Jassy–Kishinev offensive Lvov–Sandomierz offensive Vistula–Oder offensive Lower Silesian offensive Battle of Berlin Battle of Bautzen (1945) Prague offensive |
| Decorations | Order of the Red Banner (2nd formation) Order of Suvorov (2nd formation) Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (2nd formation) |
| Battle honours | Kremenchug (2nd formation) Aleksandriya (2nd formation) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Mark Mikhailovich Butsko Maj. Gen. Anatolii Nikolaevich Rozanov Maj. Gen. Nikolai Ivanovich Biryukov Maj. Gen. Grigorii Nikitich Zhukov |
The 433rd Rifle Division began forming in late 1941 at Ufa in the South Ural Military District as a Bashkiri national division but on December 25 it was redesignated as the 2nd formation of the 214th. In July 1942 it was moved to the area west of Stalingrad and fought in the battle for that city until the beginning of February 1943, eventually assisting in mopping up the factory district. From there it was moved north to form part of the reserves behind the Kursk salient in 53rd Army. During the subsequent summer offensive into Ukraine it reached and crossed the Dniepr near Kremenchuk and was awarded its name as a battle honor. In the winter battles on the west bank it won a further honorific as well as the Order of the Red Banner. During the spring offensives toward Romania it was part of 5th Guards Army in 2nd Ukrainian Front and fought unsuccessfully along the Dniestr River until being moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and joining 52nd Army. Under this command it became part of 1st Ukrainian Front and advanced through southern Poland and Silesia, winning two further decorations in the process. In the final offensive into Germany it saw heavy fighting in Saxony during one of the last desperate German counteroffensives in late April 1945, then advanced with its Front toward Prague. After the German surrender it moved back to Poland and later Ukraine before being disbanded in mid-1946.