2nd Rifle Division ( Soviet Union ) The Soviet 2nd Rifle Division was a rifle division that served during the Second World War . Originally formed in 1919 from the 1st Ryazansk Rifle Division , the division was twice destroyed and reformed during the war . The division contained two or three rifle regiment s . Formed at Moscow , September 1918 . Fought at Ufa on the Eastern Front , April – July 1919 . Fought against Yudenich with the 7th Army , October – December 1919 . Fought in the Polish Campaign in the Western Front , May – August 1920 , and against Bulak - Balakhovich , October 1920 . Second World War . During the war there were four distinct formations that bore the title of " 2nd Rifle Division " . 1st Formation . Formed in 1919 in the Belorussian Military District . On 22 June 1941 the division was part of the 1st Rifle Corps , 10th Army and took up defensive positions on the right flank of the army stationed in the Bialystok " bulge " . The division escaped from the Bialystok pocket only to be annihilated by the German army in a pocket west of Minsk in early July 1941 . The division was removed from the Soviet order of battle on 24 July 1941 and officially disbanded on 19 September 1941 . The full honorific title of the division was the " 2nd Belorussian Red Banner Rifle Division in the name of M . V . Frunze " . 2nd Formation . Formed from the 2nd Moscow Milita Division on 26 September 1941 , the second formation served in the 32nd Army . The division received new equipment to supplement the equipment issued by the Moscow Militia . With the start of the German offensive against the Western Front at the end of September the division was forced into combat before it was fully brought up to strength . By 10 October 1941 the division had been driven into the 19th Army ' s and was encircled and destroyed by the Germans in the Vyazma pocket in October 1941 . The division was destroyed by the end of October and officially removed from the order of battle on 23 November 1941 . 3rd Formation . Formed in Sevastopol fortress on 23 November 1941 from the dismounted 2nd Cavalry Division , this formation served with the Separate Coastal Army and was renamed the 109th Rifle Division on 29 January 1942 . 4th Formation . Commenced forming in Arkhangelsk on 21 December 1941 possibly from an unknown 400 - series Rifile Division . By the end of March 1942 the division was " ready " for combat and transferred to the Volkhov Front . The division took part in numerous operations , including the rescue of 2nd Shock Army ( May - Jul 1942 ) , Operation Iskra in January 1943 , and the Leningrad - Novograd Strategic Offensive Operation in early 1944 . During the summer of 1944 the division took part in the operations to clear the Baltic States , ending in Estonia at the end of 1944 . During December 1944 the division was transferred to the 2nd Belorussian Front ' s 50th Army . It took part in the East Prussian Strategic Offensive Operation ending the war near near Kongsberg as part of the 81st Rifle Corps in the 3rd Belorussian Front . With the 81st Rifle Corps , it was withdrawn to the Eastern Ural Military District immediately after the war . The division was disbanded on 28 January 1946 . See also . List of infantry divisions of the Soviet Union 1917 – 1957