The "R-2"s were assigned to the "1st Armoured Regiment" of the "1st Armoured Division" where they participated in Operation Barbarossa. The division was withdrawn from combat after the Battle of Odessa in 1941. At the start of 1942, 40 tanks were sent to Pilsen for overhaul while 50 more were repaired in Ploiești. The division returned to the front on 29 August 1942 with 109 "R-2"s. By the eve of the Soviet Stalingrad Counter-offensive on 19 November the division could only muster 84 serviceable "R-2"s with as many as 37 unserviceable tanks stationed in the rear. The division was on the outer edges of the Stalingrad Pocket, but managed to break through the western wing of the encirclement, although 77 "R-2"s were lost in the process. Only about a third of these were destroyed by the Soviets, the rest were either abandoned or broke down and couldn't be recovered. One "R-2" arrived from Romania during December as a reinforcement. The "1st Armored Division" was ordered home in early January 1943.