220th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
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The 220th Rifle Division was briefly a Red Army motorized infantry division that was re-organised shortly after the German invasion as a standard rifle division.
220th Motorized Division (March 11, 1941 - July 21, 1941) 220th Rifle Division (July 21, 1941 - July 1945) | |
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Active | 1941–1945 |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Red Army |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Motorized Infantry |
Size | Division |
Engagements | Operation Barbarossa Battle of Smolensk (1941) Operation Typhoon Battles of Rzhev Operation Mars Battle of Smolensk (1943) Orsha offensives (1943) Operation Bagration Vitebsk–Orsha offensive Minsk offensive Goldap-Gumbinnen Operation Vistula–Oder offensive East Prussian Offensive Prague Offensive |
Decorations | Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov |
Battle honours | Orsha |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Nikifor Gordeevich Khoruzhenko Lt. Col. Nikolai Georgievich Tsyganov Maj. Gen. Stanislav Giliarovich Poplavskii Maj. Gen. Vasilii Alekseevich Polevik Col. Pyotr Selvestrovich Khaustovich |
It managed to avoid destruction during Operation Typhoon, but only its 653rd Rifle Regiment remained battleworthy through the winter. Once rebuilt it took part in the fighting around Rzhev in 1942 and then in the follow-up to the German evacuation of the salient in the spring of 1943. When the summer offensive toward Smolensk began in August it was part of Western Front's 31st Army and it remained in this Army almost continuously for the duration of the war. During the following autumn and winter it took part in the front's increasingly futile offensives on Orsha, but in the first stages of the Destruction of Army Group Center it assisted in the liberation of that town and was awarded its name as an honorific; its rifle regiments soon also gained honors for the liberation of Minsk. Less than two weeks later it also shared credit for the liberation of the city of Grodno and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner while several of its subunits were recognized for successfully crossing the Neman River nearby. After the abortive offensive into East Prussia in October it contributed to the capture of that province in early 1945 before being moved to 1st Ukrainian Front in April, and it ended the war in Czechoslovakia. Despite its solid combat record it was disbanded during the summer.