The 35th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division of the Reserve of the High Command (RGK) was formed between March and September 1943 at the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Camp in Moscow, part of the Moscow Military District. Colonel Nikolai Salmin assumed command of the division on 15 July. After completing its formation, the division was railed to the front between 4 and 5 September in four echelons, joining the 37th Army of the Steppe Front (renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front on 20 October). The division participated in the recapture of Left-bank Ukraine east of Kremenchug, the Battle of the Dnieper, and the offensive towards Krivoy Rog in late 1943. in January, the division and the 37th Army were transferred to the 3rd Ukrainian Front and fought in the Nikopol–Krivoy Rog offensive, the Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka offensive, and the Odessa offensive. Salmin was evaluated as having "acted timidly, often losing control of divisional units on the march and in combat operations" during the army's actions in the Lyubotyn region and the crossing of the Dnieper and the Southern Bug. As a result, Salmin was relieved of command on 26 March 1944 and replaced by army deputy commander for air defense Colonel Mikhail Slyusarev. The 35th fought in the Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive and the occupation of Bulgaria. The division remained with the 37th Army occupying Bulgaria for the rest of the war.