Hospitalized for treatment of illness from 13 March to 4 April 1942, Lebedenko returned to command of the 50th after recovering. During this period, the division held defensive positions west of Gzhatsk. In August it transferred to the 33rd Army and successfully acted in the army offensive operation. In early February 1943 the division was shifted to the Southwestern Front and joined the 1st Guards Army, defending on the line of the Seversky Donets. From July, as part of the 33rd Rifle Corps, the division fought in the Izyum–Barvenkovo offensive, the Donbas strategic offensive, and the Battle of the Dnieper. One of the first units to enter Zaporozhye during the Zaporozhye offensive, the division received the name of the city as an honorific on 15 October. Subsequently, the 50th fought in attacks towards Kirovograd, the Kirovograd offensive, and the Uman–Botoșani offensive.