The 257th Rifle Division (second formation) was formed in Kalinin Oblast during November and December 1941, under the command of Major General Karp Zheleznikov. The division began forming in accordance with a directive of the Northwestern Front dated 8 November 1941 in the area of Kuzhenkino and Yedrovo. Its units reused the same numbers as the previously disbanded first formation of the 257th Rifle Division. It included the 943rd, 948th, and 953rd Rifle Regiments, the 793rd Artillery Regiment, and smaller support units. The 257th was sent to the 3rd Shock Army of the Northwestern Front, and entered combat for the first time during the Toropets–Kholm offensive in January 1942. On 21 January, the 257th, advancing on Velikiye Luki, entered Snopovo, cutting the road between Kholm and Toropets. Zheleznikov suffered a leg fracture in an accident on 23 January and was evacuated from the front, and division chief of staff Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Letunov became acting division commander. Colonel Anatoly Dyakonov took command of the division on 29 January. During the offensive, the 257th broke through German defenses northwest of Ostashkov in conjunction with other units of the army, and overcame stubborn resistance to develop the offensive towards Velikiye Luki. From late January to November, the division as part of the 3rd Shock Army of the Kalinin Front defended positions northeast of Velikiye Luki. In the spring of 1942, the 31st Rifle Brigade and two ski battalions were placed under the control of the division, expanding its defensive line from 40 to 80 km.