76th Rifle Division ( Soviet Union ) The 76th K . E . Voroshilov Division ( Cтрелковая дивизия им . К . Е . Ворошилова ) known also as the 76th Armenian Mountain Division , was a Soviet infantry fighting unit of the Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War . The 76th was made up primarily of Armenians from the newly established Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia , but also included among its ranks several different nationalities . The division was officially created on September 5 , 1922 , at the near end of the Russia n military conquests of the southern Caucasus republics . Establishment . The 76th was initially formed as a brigade - sized unit and led by several non - Armenian commanders including Major Generals S . V . Chernikov , E . F . Pryakhin , K . E . Goryunov , N . E . Kaladzen , N . T . Tavarkiladze ( the latter two were ethnic Georgians ) , Colonel G . G . Voronin , and subordinate commanders A . P . Melik - Shahnazaryan , H . T . Atoyan ( the latter two being Armenians ) . Instruction was carried out in Armenian and the unit published a military newspaper , " The Red Soldier " , and a newsletter " The Red Fighting Man " ( both in Armenian ) . During the Second World War , a third paper , " Voroshilovets " , under the aegis of Armenian novelist Hrachya Kochar , began publication in Russian . In 1935 , the division was named after Soviet Central Committee member ( and later Marshal of the Soviet Union ) Kliment Voroshilov . Two years later it was bestowed with the Order of the Red Banner . In 1938 , soldiers of other Soviet nationalities began to enter the ranks of the division , though it remained in the Armenian SSR and retained its flag , its number , and traditions . The Second World War . Iran . In the summer of 1941 , Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and drove into the large landmass of Russia and Ukraine on three fronts . The southernmost drove through the Caucasus with the objective of capturing the petroleum fields and reserves in Baku , Azerbaijan . By autumn , the German Wehrmacht had pushed far into the regions and was nearing the outlet of the northern Caucasus . In order to prevent a possible link up between Iran , whose leader Reza Shah Pahlavi harbored pro - German leanings , the Allies launched a joint mission to invade and occupy the country . The 76th Division , as part of the 47th Army of the Transcaucasian Front , crossed the Araks River in August at the border town of Julfa , Nakhichevan and settled in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz . Ukraine , Stalingrad , Don . With Iran pacified , in September 1942 the division was sent to Ukraine in September and incorporated into the 38th Army . It took part in major fighting in Poltava , Kharkiv and Vovchansk during the First Battle of Kharkov . In February 1942 , the division advanced westward and was reassigned and integrated into the 21st Army . In May 1942 , the Voroshilov Division was once more on the offensive and advanced toward the Donets River . where it confronted the entrenched German Army Group South . Despite suffering heavy casualties , the division was able to cross the riverbank , and retake a line of towns straddling the Russian - Ukrainian border : Grafovka , Nekhotevka , Shamino and Arkhangelskoye . In June 1942 , the 76th helped close a gap between the 21st and 38th Armies and halt German counter - offensives at Surkovo , Gavrilov - Yam and Pesyano . In July 1942 , the division was sent to Stalingrad . After taking part in fighting there until October , it was ordered to weaken Army Group South ' s defensive lines near the Don River . It overran its lines at the railway terminus in Kletskaya , a feat which earned it the status of a Guards unit ( November 23 , 1942 ) and subsequent reorganization as the 51st Guards Rifle Division . The following year , the division took part in the encircling of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad , an act which also earned it an Order of Lenin , and the Battle of Kursk ( in Belgorod - Bohodukhiv ) . Baltic . With fresh victories at Stalingrad and Kursk , in 1944 - 45 the division was reassigned to the Baltic region , where it participated in the uprooting of German forces in Belorussia , Latvia and Lithuania . For its efforts in the Vitebsk - Polotsk area , the division earned yet another title , the Vitbeskaya , and the 93rd infantry regiment was decorated with the title Polotskaya ( July 10 , 1944 ) . Its final battles were waged in May 1945 against German forces penned up in the Courland Pocket . The division ' s final titles were 76th Kirovograd Bratislava Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Infantry Division .