8th Guards Rifle Division The 8th Guards Panfilov Division ( Russian : " 8 - я гвардейская Панфиловская дивизия " ; full title : " 8th Guards Rezhitskaya Motorized Rifle Division Named after Hero of the Soviet Union Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov , awarded the Orders of Lenin , the Red Banner and Suvorov " ) originally the 316th Rifle Division , is a motorized infantry division of the Military of Kyrgyzstan . Formed as a Red Army division during World War II , it was dissolved in 2003 but established anew in 2011 . History . Formation . After Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 , reserves were mobilized to be sent to the front . In 12 July 1941 , the 316th Rifle Division was established in Alma Ata , the capital of the Kazakh SSR . Major General Ivan Panfilov , the military commissar of the Kyrgyz SSR , was appointed its commander . The reservists allotted to the 316th were mostly from the two republics . It consisted of three infantry regiments : the 1073th , the 1075th and the 1077th . The 316th soldiers ' were sworn in on 1 August , and boarded trains to the front from the 18th to the 20th . They arrived in Borovichi , near Malaya Vishera , in late August . Intense fighting against the Germans already took place in the region , as part of the campaign to defend Leningrad from the attack of Army Group North . The 316th was involved in several skirmishes , but on 8 September was consigned as the reserve of the 52nd Army . It spent a month in the rear . Battle of Moscow . In early October , the Germans begun their offensive on Moscow . On the 7th , Panfilov ' s division was transferred to the vicinity of the Soviet capital , arriving on the 11th . It was assigned to Konstantin Rokossovsky ' s 16th Army , and ordered to defend a 41 - km long sector along the Ruza River , especially the highway passing through Volokolamsk . On the 14th , the Germans attacked with superior forces . By the 27th , they advanced some thirty kilometers , pushing the 316th back to Volokolamsk . On the 28th , after a day of fighting , the city was occupied . Panfilov ' s soldiers retreated closer to Moscow . The German Army resumed its offensive on 15 November . In the 16th , they engaged the 316th in its new line of defense , near the village of Dubosekovo . Soviet newspapers later reported that twenty - eight soldiers from the division ' s 1075th Regiment destroyed eighteen enemy tanks while fighting to the last ; although the story gained wide publicity , it was later revealed to be exaggerated . The threat to the 16th Army ' s flank forced the Stavka to send in the reserve 78th Rifle Division . Although they were forced to retreat after three days , the German advance ceased due to the Soviets ' resistance and the harsh weather conditions . In 17 November , the People ' s Commissar of Defense passed a decree to promote the 316th to a Guards formation , in recognition of the role it played in defending the capital ; it sustained 9 , 920 casualties , including 3 , 620 soldiers killed in action and 6 , 300 wounded . Marshal Dmitry Yazov , who researched the division ' s history , wrote that it considerably delayed the enemy ' s march on Moscow in its sector ; in a telegram from Colonel - General Erich Hoepner to Field Marshal Fedor von Bock , the first written about the 316th : " . . . it is a division of savages , its soldiers fight in violation of all rules of engagement . . . They are fanatical , never surrender and do not fear death . " On the 18th , a group of journalists traveled to Panfilov ' s headquarters in the village of Guseniovo , and told him of the news . As he briefed them in the open , they came under a mortar attack . The general was killed by a shell splinter . The decree came into effect on that very day , turning the 316th to the 8th Guards Rifle Division ; it also received the Order of the Red Banner . In was named in honor of Panfilov on 23 November , thus becoming one of the only two Red Army divisions to be named after their commanders , along with the " Chapayevska " . The 8th Guards took part in the December counteroffensive in Moscow , liberating the village of Kryukovo and Istra . Remainder of war . During late January 1942 , the 8th Guards was assigned to the 2nd Rifle Corps of the Northwestern Front ' s 3rd Shock Army , and participated in the battles near the Demyansk Pocket ; for its performance during the operation , it was collectively awarded the Order of Lenin on 16 March . In late 1942 , as part of the Kalinin Front , it fought in the campaign near the Lovat River . In 1944 , it took part in the Leningrad – Novgorod Offensive and later , in the battle of Rēzekne ; for its role in taking the city and the surrounding region , it was awarded the honorary title " Rezhitskaya " on 27 July 1944 . On 3 November , the division received the Order of Suvorov 2nd Class . The 8th Guards ended the war with the 10th Guards Army , as part of the forces besieging Courland . According to Soviet official reports , during World War II the division killed or disabled 85 , 000 enemy troops , captured 5 , 000 more and destroyed or captured 387 tanks , 65 other armored vehicles , 43 planes , 451 guns , 180 mortars , 2010 automobiles and 328 motorcycles . In total , the soldiers of the division were awarded twenty - nine Orders of Lenin , 371 Orders of the Red Banner , two Orders of Kutuzov , eight Orders of Suvorov , fifty - three Orders of Alexander Nevsky , one Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky , 391 Orders of the Patriotic War 1st class , 1783 Orders of the Patriotic War 2nd Class , 4747 Orders of the Red Star , forty - one Orders of Glory 2nd degree and 2061 Orders of Glory 3rd degree . Thirty - four soldiers received the highest Soviet military decoration , Hero of the Soviet Union . The first was Major General Ivan Panfilov himself , posthumously . Panfilov ' s Twenty - Eight Guardsmen were also all awarded the title posthumously ; when six of them were revealed to be alive , two were stripped of it . The other wartime Heroes were Piotr Vikhrev , Malik Gabdulin , Ivan Shapshaev and Tulegen Tokhtarov . Baurzhan Momyshuly received the honor in 1991 , three years after his death . Post - war years . The 8th Guards was stationed in Rakvere , Estonian SSR , until May 1967 . Then it was recalled to Frunze , Kyrgyzstan and assigned to the 33rd Corps of the Central Asian Military District . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union , it became part of the Military of Kyrgyzstan , but was disbanded in January 2003 . At 11 July 2011 , on the eve of the division ' s 70th anniversary , the 8th Guards was re - established in a ceremony attended by President Roza Otunbayeva . It is now garrisoned in Tokmok and commanded by Colonel Melis Satybaldiev . Legacy . During 1943 and 1944 , war reporter Alexander Bek escorted the 8th Guards . Drawing from the memories of Major Baurzhan Momyshuly , he authored a book , " Volokolamsk Highway " , about the fighting near the city . After the war , in 1960 and 1961 , he completed two sequels , " Several Days " and " General Panfilov ' s Reserve " . The trilogy described the experiences of Momyshuly as a battalion commander , from the formation of the division in Alma Ata until the Soviet counter - offensive in Moscow . " Volokolamsk Highway " - known also as " Panfilov ' s Men " - became popular both in the Soviet Union and abroad . Published in Hebrew in 1946 , " Volokolamsk Highway " " held an almost cult status in the Palmach and later in the Israeli Army " according to media researcher Yuval Shachal , and became a standard tactical handbook in the Israeli Defense Forces . Inspired by the novel , future Israeli Chief of the General Staff Motta Gur once held a " Panfilov Roll Call " for two soldiers who deserted from his company when he was a young officer , shaming them in front of the other troops ; he wrote that it was a common practice in the IDF at the time . During 2005 , Ehud Barak told " we , as young officers , were raised on Momyshuly . " " Volokolamsk Highway " was popular in Cuba , as well . Fidel Castro told Norberto Fuentes that " the idea to use the love of the Motherland for convincing people to support me , came to me after reading the novel . " The novel was well known among members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces ; In 1961 , Raul Castro told a journalist that every regimental commander was " compelled to have a copy " . In ' s acclaimed 1987 novel " Las iniciales de la tierra " , the protagonist cites Bek ' s book as a major influence on his life . The novel was also included in the list of " compulsory reading " for members of the Chinese Communist Party and People ' s Liberation Army personnel . On 27 June 1963 , the East German Ministry of National Defense issued its Order no . 50 / 63 - drafted on the initiative of Walter Ulbricht - which introduced " Volokolamsk Highway " as part of the political education program for the soldiers of the National People ' s Army . In the official history of the NVA , historian Major General had cited it as having a major influence of the soldiers . Bek ' s " Volokolamsk Highway " served as one the settings for an eponymous series of five plays by Heiner Müller , written from 1984 to 1987 . The first part , " Russian Opening " , was based on Heinrich von Kleist ' s " The Prince of Homburg " . In Müller ' s reinterpretation , Momyshuly assumes the role of the Great Elector . Beside Bek ' s trilogy , Momyshuly himself authored his accounts on the division ' s fighting near Moscow .