193rd Tank Division The 193rd Tank Division was originally a Red Army infantry division that was reorganised after World War II as a mechanised and then a tank division of the Soviet Army . 1st Formation . It was first called the 193rd Rifle Division and was established at Korosten in the Ukrainian SSR in May 1941 . It comprised the 685th , 883rd , and 895th Rifle Regiments , 384th Light Artillery Regiment and 393rd Howitzer Regiment on 22 June . The division joined with the 200th Rifle Division to form the 31st Rifle Corps , fighting with 5th Army commanded by Colonel A . K . Berestov . The division took part in the counterstroke north from Berdichev in early July 1941 . The corps was then deployed in the most northwestern sector of the 5th Army positions , and thus the farthest from escape from the pocket . The division was destroyed near Kiev in September 1941 and disbanded . 2nd Formation . The division was reformed at Sorochinsk , in the South Urals District , from December 1941 to 3 January 1942 . It comprised the 685th , 883rd and 895th Rifle Regiments , 384th Artillery Regiment , 50th Anti - tank Battalion , 4th Sapper Battalion and 320th Reconnaissance Company . In June the division went to the Voronezh Front reserves , but was still far from complete at that time . Stalingrad . On 17 September the division , commanded by Col . F . N . Smekhotvorov , was assigned to the 62nd Army and fought during the Battle of Stalingrad . On 22 September , the 685th Regiment was ferried from the east to the west bank of the Volga into central Stalingrad and five nights later , on the 27th , the other two regiments joined it . The 883rd and 895th were deployed in the Red October factory complex . The following day , the 883rd was attacked by German tanks . Anti - tank rifleman Mikhail Panikakha was attempting to defend his position with Molotov cocktails . A German bullet ignited one of his bombs , setting him alight . He then threw himself against a tank with his remaining bomb and destroyed it , at the cost of his own life . Panikakha was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990 . The division was mauled and pushed back in a fierce German attack on 1 October . A day later , it was defending the western part of the Red October Factory , which included the kitchens , the bath house and workers ' flats ; it also counter - attacked Hill 107 . 5 . The regiments , down to 200 men , were unequal to the task and were pushed back by German tanks and infantry . Chuikov , writing in 1963 , said that between 13 and 20 November the survivors of the 193rd Rifle Division ( Smekhotvorov ) were consolidated into the 685th Rifle Regiment - the grand total was 250 soldiers . However the historian John Erickson says that by 11 November the division was reduced to 1 , 000 personnel . Kursk . On 27 December 1942 the 193rd recrossed the Volga to be rebuilt . The division was assigned to the 65th Army ( former 4th Tank Army ) in February 1943 ; it was under the command of Lieutenant General Pavel Batov , part of Colonel General K . K . Rokossovski ' s Central Front . The 193rd would remain under these commanders for the duration of the war . The Front was redeployed to the Kursk area , where the division , now with a strength of 9 , 000 troops , made gains in a gap between the German 2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Army until German reserves brought the advance to a halt . The 193rd remained in the Kursk salient through the following months , including the Operation " Zitadelle " . At this time the division was part of the 27th Rifle Corps , and was commanded by Major General F . N . Zhobrev . Zhobrev was replaced by Colonel A . G . Frolenkov on 28 August . Frolenkov was eventually promoted to Maj . Gen . and named a Hero of the Soviet Union ; he remained in command for the rest of the war . After the German defeat at Kursk , the Red Army launched its first summer offensive . The 193rd staged a successful assault crossing of the Dnepr River on 15 October , with divisional and army artillery firing 1 , 000 shells per minute in support . In February 1944 the division received 1 , 700 replacements from the 218th Reserve Rifle Regiment , but remained well understrength for some time . The 193rd was joined with the 354th Rifle Division in April to form the 105th Rifle Corps , commanded by General D . F . Alekseev , where it would remain for the duration of the war . Advance . As part of Rokossovski ' s 1st Belorussian Front , the 193rd took part in Operation " Bagration " , also known as the Destruction of Army Group Centre . The 193rd assisted the 354th in liberating the city of Bobruisk from the German 9th Army on 29 June 1944 , and on 8 July was credited with liberating the city of Baranovichi . Racing ahead , forward detachments of the division penetrated the Bialowiecz Forest , and onwards to the Western Bug River where it was temporarily halted in late July by counterattacks by the 5th SS Panzer Division ( " Wiking " ) . Continuing to advance , the depleted 65th Army managed to carve out a bridgehead over the Narev River , north of Warsaw between Serotsk and Pultusk , on 5 September . This bridgehead was subjected to a major surprise counterattack by German forces on 5 October , but the 193rd was successful in helping to narrowly hold it . During the next three months the division was brought up to strength again , and on 14 January 1945 participated in the massive breakout of the now - renumbered 2nd Belorussian Front from the bridgehead . The 193rd reached the Vistula River on 26 January , and participated in the liberation of Danzig ( Gdansk ) at the end of March . In a final series of operations , the division advanced to the Oder River and helped stage an assault crossing beginning on 20 April near Stettin . The city officials surrendered to the 193rd at dawn on 26 April . Division honorifics were - Russian : " Днепровская краснознаменная , орденов Ленина , Суворова , Кутузова " . ( English : " Dnepr , Red Banner , Order of Lenin , Order of Suvorov , Order of Kutuzov . " ) Cold War service . By 1955 the division was reflagged as the 22nd Mechanized Division , and in 1957 was reflagged again as the 36th Tank Division . The division was restored to its World War II number - the 193rd Tank Division , in 1965 In 1991 - 2 the 193rd Tank Division incorporated the 251st , 262nd , 264th Tank , 297th Motor Rifle , 852nd Artillery ( Self - propelled ) , 929th Anti - Aircraft Rocket Regiments and smaller supporting units . The 193rd Tank Division was stationed at Bobruisk in the Belarussian Military District with the 5th Guards Tank Army . In 1991 it became the 193rd Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment ( although the number needs confirmation ) ; it came under Belarussian control in 1992 . It was disbanded some years later . Order of Battle , 1989 - 90 . On 19 November 1990 the Division was equipped with :