75th Guards Rifle Division The 75th Guards Rifle Division ( Russian : 75 - я гвардейская стрелковая дивизия " 75 - ya gvardyeĭskaya strelkovaya diviziya " ) was a Red Army infantry division during World War II and afterwards , which later became the 75th Guards Tank Division and was finally disbanded in the 1990s . The Division was formed in the Tula area in September 1942 on the basis of units of the 13th Motor Rifle Division of the NKVD , as the 95th Rifle Division ( II Formation ) . Its structure included the 90th , 161st , and 241st Rifle Regiments , the 57th Artillery Regiment and other smaller units . Second World War . On 18 September 1942 the division saw combat for the first time , at Stalingrad , where it fought for more than 4 months as part of the 62nd Army with the Stalingrad Front and South Eastern Front , in heavy street fighting . For courage and the heroism in this fighting , on 1 March 1943 the Division became 75th Guards Rifle Division ( 212 , 231 and 241st Guards Rifle , 159th Guards Artillery Regiments and other smaller units ) . In July - August 1943 , as part of the 13th Army of the Central Front the Division fought in the Battle of Kursk . Facing one of the main German thrust ( the Ponyri 2 area ) , several divisional units resisted the German attack effectively and persistently . For its exemplary fighting performance the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 21 July 1943 . The division ' s soldiers then successfully helped clear left - bank Ukraine during the Chernigov - Pripyatsk ( Черниговско - Припятской ) operations of the Soviet Central Front . For helping clear Bakhmach the division was given the honourable name Bakhmach ( Бахмачской ) on 9 September 1943 . On 25 September 1943 parts of the division forced the River Dnepr in the Tarasovichi area , seized a bridgehead and during October , fought intensely to expand it . For courage shown in battle , 63 soldiers of the division were made Heroes of the Soviet Union , and 829 recognised with awards and medals . In November 1943 , the division as part of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took part in the Kiev offensive operation . From January to July 1944 the division fought as part of the 65th Army of the Belarus ( from 17 . 2 . 1944 1st Belarussian ) Front , and for exemplary fighting performance it was awarded the Order of Suvorov , 2nd class , on 15 January 1944 . In the Belarus operation of 1944 , operating as part of the first echelon of the 65th Army , the division together with other formations broke the German defense and in persistent fighting seized Parichami ( Паричами ) . The division then participated in the destruction of the German pocket in the Bobruisk area , cleared the city of Baranovichi and was given the Order of the Red Banner for a second time on 5 July 1944 . Since August 1944 the division operated most of the time with 61st Army . As part of the 3rd and 1st Baltic Fronts , the division participated in clearing the Soviet Baltic region , and then fought in the Vistula - Oder and East Prussian operations and the Battle of Berlin as part of the 1st Belorussian Front . During the war years , about 14 , 000 of the Division ' s soldiers were awarded awards and medals , including 74 which were made Heroes of the Soviet Union . Colonel V . A . Gorishny ( made General - major on 1 . 3 . 1943 ) commanded the division throughout the war . Postwar . Between February and April 1946 , the Division was relocated to the cities of Tula and Plavsk in place of the disbanded 267th Rifle Division of 1st Guards Rifle Corps . The staff of 267th Rifle Сивашской Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division joined 75th Guards Rifle Division . On June 12 , 1946 , 75th Guards Rifle Division was transformed into the 17th Guards Rifle Brigade . The brigade , stationed at Tula , was transferred in the summer of 1946 to 13th Guards Rifle Кёнигсбергский Corps . The brigade was relocated from Tula to Kaluga . In the city of Tula the Brigade released barracks for the 106th Guards Airborne Division which had arrived from the Tejkovskogo area of the Ivanovo region . In May , 1946 the brigade was relocated from the city of Kaluga to the city of Dorogobuzh in the Smolensk area . The headquarters of 13th Guards Rifle Corps was relocated in the summer of 1946 to the city of Moscow . On April , 15th , 1947 the brigade has been relocated from the city of Kaluga in the city of Ryazan and was a part of 1st Guards Rifle Corps . In August – October 1948 , the brigade was sent from Ryazan to the cities of Kharkov and Chuguev in the Kiev Military District , having released barracks areas for the 11th Guards Airborne Division . In 1952 the Division was reformed from 17th Guards Rifle Brigade , and later became the 64th Guards Mechanised Division , incorporating the 160th , 205th , and 216th Guards Mechanised Regiments , and the 25th Tank Regiment . Later the Division became the 75th Guards Tank Division , with the 187th MRR , 283rd Guards Tank Regiment , and 25th and 380th Tank Regiments . It served for years in the Kiev MD as part of the 6th Guards Tank Army , and finally disbanded in the late 1980s as part of the Gorbachev - inspired reductions . It was disbanded by November 1989 .