252nd Rifle Division

The 252nd Rifle Division was the eighth of a group of 10 regular rifle divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border and internal troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District.

It was raised in June 1941, within days of the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, based on the prewar rifle division Shtat 04/400, and served for the duration of the Great Patriotic War in that role. The 252nd's first experience of battle was when it took part in the fighting north of Smolensk in the summer of 1941. It was forced eastward in the autumn, especially under the impact of Operation Typhoon. After helping to defeat an offensive by Third Panzer Group at Kalinin in October, and serving through the winter counteroffensive west of Moscow, the division was sent south where it participated in the Battle of Stalingrad.

In the summer of 1943 the 252nd distinguished itself in the final liberation of Kharkov, for which it received its first battle honor, as well as the Order of the Red Banner. Following this the division continued to fight through eastern and western Ukraine and into Moldova, receiving further distinctions along the way. It took part in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in August 1944, which drove Romania into the Allied camp, and continued campaigning into Hungary, participating in the Siege of Budapest. In the final weeks of the war the division received a second battle honor for assisting in the liberation of Bratislava. Postwar, it was withdrawn to the North Caucasus, downsized to a rifle brigade and disbanded in March 1947.