| 81st Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active |
|
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
The 81st Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II.
It was established at Lubny (Kiev or Kharkov Military Districts) around 1936. As 81st Mechanised Division, part of 4th Mechanised Corps, with 6th Army, Southwestern Front, in June 1941. Fought at Voronezh and Kursk. With Soviet 1st Guards Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front 5.45.
The 2nd Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Red Army that served from the Russian Civil War to 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 regiments.
Operation Bagration was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation, a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing Nazi Germany to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket.
The 4th Army was a Soviet field army of World War II that served on the Eastern front of World War II and in the Caucasus during the Cold War. It was disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union, with its divisions being withdrawn to Russia and disbanded.
The 5th Combined Arms Red Banner Army is a Russian Ground Forces formation in the Eastern Military District.
The 4th Mechanized Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
A tank corps was a type of Soviet armoured formation used during World War II.
A mechanised corps was a Soviet armoured formation used prior to the beginning of World War II and reintroduced during the war, in 1942.
The 12th Army was a field army of the Red Army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II.
The 18th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was formed on 21 June 1941 on the basis of HQ Kharkov Military District and armies of the Kiev Special Military District.
The 90th Guards Tank Division was a division of the Soviet Army, and then of the Russian Ground Forces.
The Fourth Army was a field army of the Romanian Land Forces active from the 19th century to the 1990s.
The 7th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II and of the Soviet Army during the Cold War.
A rifle corps was a Soviet corps-level military formation during the mid-twentieth century. Rifle corps were made up of a varying number of rifle divisions, although the allocation of three rifle divisions to a rifle corps was common during the latter part of World War II.
The 9th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a Soviet field army, active from 1939 to 1943.
The 20th Guards Carpathian-Berlin Motor Rifle Division is a formation of the Russian Ground Forces, originally formed within the Soviet Red Army as the 3rd Mechanised Corps. The division was reformed in 2021 from the former 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
The Baltic strategic defensive operation encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in response to the offensive launched by the Wehrmacht in Operation Barbarossa.
The 29th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army.
The 81st Cavalry Division was a mounted division of the Red Army that served in the first years of the Great Patriotic War. It was formed in the autumn of 1941 and served in the region south of Stalingrad while the German Army besieged that city in the autumn of 1942. During the first stages of the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, the 81st was given a prominent role in the exploitation to the southwest, but became overextended and vulnerable to the mobile German reinforcements arriving to attempt a breakthrough to their 6th Army. The division was badly mauled in the opening stages of Operation Winter Storm, but continued to serve in Southern Front's advance on Rostov and on into the Donbass. It was finally disbanded in May, 1943.
The 61st Cavalry Division was a cavalry division of the Red Army that served in the first years of the Great Patriotic War. It was formed in September – October, 1941, and saw its first actions to the south of Stalingrad during the German siege of that city in the autumn of 1942. When the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, began in November the 61st formed a significant part of the mobile forces of its 51st Army. After the positions of Romanian 4th Army were broken through the division took part in the exploitation to the southwest, but became overextended and vulnerable to the mobile German reinforcements arriving to attempt a breakthrough to their Sixth Army. The 61st suffered such severe losses that it had to be withdrawn to the reserves in December, and was later disbanded.
