During the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive (Operation Mars) the 150th Division and the 6th Rifle Corps were referred to as "Stalin" units and were regarded as an elite force. On January 6, 1943, the division was pulled from the line and moved by rail to the Velikiye Luki area, where it served in the 5th Guards Rifle Corps during the last few days of the battle for that city, then on the 25th staged an assault crossing of the Lovat and Loknya Rivers. By the middle of February it was back in 6th Corps in 22nd Army. Over the next two months it fought in the Kholm area, pinning down the German forces evacuating from the Demyansk Pocket. On April 16 the Supreme High Command recognized the service of the 6th "Siberian Volunteer" Rifle Corps by re-designating it as the 19th Guards Rifle Corps, and three days later the 150th became the second formation of the 22nd Guards Rifle Division.