34th Tank Division The 34th Tank Division was a formation of the Red Army and Soviet Ground Forces that was formed twice . First formation . The first formation was with 8th Mechanized Corps in 1941 . The formation began to be formed on June 4 , 1940 ; it was under the command of General Lieutenant Dmitry Ryabyshev . On June 22 , 1941 , the corps comprised 12th Tank Division , 34th Tank Division , 7th Mechanized Division , 2nd Motorcycle Regiment , an artillery Regiment , an engineer battalion , and a signal battalion . The 34th Tank Division itself comprised the 67th and 68th Tank Regiments and the 34th Motor Rifle Regiment . As a part of the Southwestern Front it became engaged at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in the Battle of Brody ( 1941 ) . On 25 June 1941 , 12th and 34th Tank Divisions were clearing the hills south of Brody before the whole corps opened its attack later that day . " . . . Its 34th Tank Division and elements of the 12th Tank Division advanced northwards , cutting the main road between Dubno and Brody . This forced the 16th Panzer Division to wheel round and attack the 34th Tank Division in the area of Kozin , in order to clear the road . " On June 26 , attack plans that had been under preparation for some time were upstaged by direct orders from representatives of Southwestern Front HQ , who demanded that the corps attack immediately . Thus much of the unengaged remnants of 34th Tank Division were formed into an about 9 , 000 - strong strong strike group led by Brigade Commissar Popel of corps headquarters , whose attack saw some initial success . Later however the strike group was encircled and destroyed . In July 1941 the corps command was redesignated Headquarters 38th Army , and thus the corps was disestablished . 16th Tank Brigade . On disbandment , elements of 34th Tank Division were reorganised on 15 August 1941 at Vladimir as 16th Tank Brigade . From 1941 to 1945 the brigade was a component of the following Red Army armies and fronts : In early February 1945 the brigade was encamped in the area of Bobruisk , Mahilyow Oblast . It received T - 34 / 85 tanks from factories at Nizhny Tagil and Gorki on 1 – 3 February 1945 , and received Polish personnel supplementation . On 5 February 1945 the brigade was bodily transferred from the Red Army to the Polish Armed Forces in the East ( ) . That day the Supreme Commander of the Polish Army , Lt . Gen . Michal Rola - Zymierski , issued Order No . 26 / Org . including within the Soviet part of the Polish Army the 16th Tank Brigade , and assigning it to the commander of the 2nd Army . The basis for issuing the order was order No . 302010 of the Headquarters , Supreme Commander of the Red Army of 3 October 1944 . 16th Tank Brigade was organized on the basis of war - time Soviet armored brigade Table of Organization and Equipment No . 010 / 500 - 010 / 506 numbering 1354 soldiers . The units of the brigade were to comprise the following : On 23 February 1945 soldiers took the oath . On February 26 , as the 2nd Army redeployed , the brigade was ordered to move to the Kryza area in Western Pomerania . It was transported by rail , unloaded at the station Paczkowo and deployed in the Siedlisk area . Then it regrouped to march Sagittarius Krajenskie route by Wielen and Drezdenko . March 20 was ordered to march toward Wroclaw . It departed March 29 from the station at Stare Kurowo to Oleśniczki . On April 5 the brigade , along with the entire Second Army became part of the outer blockading force around Wroclaw . That day , the brigade had 1 , 312 soldiers , including 250 officers , 559 NCOs and 503 ranking soldiers . Brigade equipment included 438 rifles and 528 pistols , 22 hand machine guns , four heavy machine guns , 9 antiaircraft machine guns , four 76 . 2 mm guns , 18 rifle , 83 vehicles and 65 T - 34 / 85 tanks . In preparation for the Berlin offensive the brigade was moved to the Neisse forest area . Staff officers made a reconnaissance of the brigade ' s approach routes and probable future enemy counterattack directions in the Rothenburg area . On April 15 , in accordance with orders from the Second Army , the brigade marched out of its starting positions . After breaking through the Neisse , on the morning on April 17 the brigade reached the eastern shore of the river Weisser Schöps ( Bely Šepc ) and then it forced the region Uhsmannsdorf Spreehammer Nieder . On April 19 Klitten and Nieder Prauske fell in succession and the brigade reached the reached the river Spree in the evening . It forced the river on 21 April , taking Lieske and Neudorf . On April 22 the brigade suffered huge losses in men and equipment . It took up defensive positions in the Klitten region . May 1 concentrated in the region of thick Ostfeld ( Mortka ) , and the next day in Friedersdorf , where it regrouped from 1 to 4 May , rebuilding combat capability . Second formation . The second formation ( ' Днепровская ордена Суворова ' ) was a division of the Soviet Ground Forces from 1957 to the early 1990s . It descended from the 10th Tank Corps , a Soviet tank corps of the Red Army during World War II . The 10th Tank Corps was part of Steppe Front for the Battle of Kursk . 10th Tank Corps was subsequently assigned to the 5th Guards Tank Army , but by April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin , the 10th Tank Corps was part of the Reserves of the Supreme High Command ( RVGK ) . It comprised the 178th , 183rd , and 186th Tank Brigades , and the 11th Motor Rifle Brigade . It should not be confused with the 30th Tank Corps , which became the 10th Guards Tanks Corps , and later the 10th Guards Uralsko - Lvovskaya Tank Division . After the war ended it became 10th Tank Division , and then in 1957 34th Tank Division . 34th Tank Division was in the Belorussian Military District for many years , part of 7th Tank Army . In 1988 divisional headquarters was at Borisov and the division comprised the 38th Guards , 183rd , and 186th Tank Regiments , the 26th Motor Rifle Regiment ( BMPs ) , the 409th Self - Propelled Artillery Regiment , and the 1138th Anti - Aircraft Rocket Regiment . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the division became part of the Armed Forces of Belarus .