The 250th Rifle Division began forming within days of the start of the German invasion on June 26, 1941, at Vladimir, in the Moscow Military District, based on a cadre of 1,500 officers and men of the NKVD Internal Troops. The remaining soldiers and officers came from the reserves. The NKVD order stated that the division was to be ready for service by July 17; in fact it was ready ten days earlier. Its order of battle was as follows: