Between 13 November and 31 December, the 1st provided air defense for the 21st Army in its concentration areas for Operation Uranus, the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad, the crossing of the Don River, the breakthrough of enemy defenses in the Kletskaya area, the insertion of mobile groups into the breakthrough, the pursuit and encirclement of German troops, and the blockade of the surrounded German troops at Stalingrad. From 1 January to 2 February 1943 the division provided air defense for the army during Operation Koltso, the elimination of the pocket. Between 12 November 1942 and 2 February 1943, claimed more than 60 German aircraft downed and 150 enemy soldiers captured. By 1 January, it included the 1068th, 1085th, 1090th and the 1116th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments.