In June 1941, during the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the 168th Infantry Division was subordinate to the XXIX Army Corps under the 6th Army, which was part of Army Group South. During the subsequent invasion of the Soviet Union, the 168th stood in the Lublin area in June 1941, moved to the Zhytomyr area in July, then advanced, as part of the XXXIV Army Corps, to the Kiev region in August and September. Here, the 168th Infantry Division took part in the Battle of Kiev of 1941. The division's command had by then been taken over by Dietrich Kraiss, who began his tenure on 8 July.