At the outset of this operation on June 22, 1944, the division was in 36th Rifle Corps of 31st Army in Gen. I.D. Chernyakovsky's 3rd Belorussian Front. (As of June 1, 1944, it had been the sole division in the corps.) The 220th soon distinguished itself by taking a leading role in the liberation of Orsha; it later also assisted in the liberation of the Belorussian capital, Minsk, and received the names of both these cities as honorifics: At the end of July the division participated in the liberation of Grodno, near the border with Poland, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. For his leadership during the fighting near Grodno, political officer Captain Kirill Koshman of the 376th Rifle Regiment was named a Hero of the Soviet Union.