220th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

220th Motorized Rifle Division (April – 21 July, 1941) 220th Rifle Division (21 July 1941 – 1945)
Maj. Gen. N.G. Khoruzhenko (late war photo after promotion to Lieutenant General)
Active	1941–1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	Operation Barbarossa Battle of Moscow Battles of Rzhev Battle of Smolensk (1943) Operation Bagration East Prussian Offensive Prague Offensive
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov 2nd class
Battle honours	Orsha Minsk
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj. Gen. N. G. Khoruzhenko Maj. Gen. Stanislav Poplavsky Maj. Gen. V. A. Polevik

The 220th Rifle Division was briefly a Red Army motorized infantry division that was re-organised shortly after the German invasion as a standard rifle division. The division distinguished itself in at least three battles. It was partly credited with the liberation of the cities of Orsha and Minsk in the first stages of the Destruction of Army Group Center. Shortly after it also shared credit for the liberation of the city of Grodno.

The division was first organized as the 220th Motorized Rifle Division beginning in April, 1941 in the area of Smolensk. It was commanded by Major General N.G. Khoruzhenko and consisted of:

It was part of the 23rd Mechanized Corps.

When Operation Barbarossa began the 220th was in the very early stages of forming up and was very poorly equipped. Trucks and other motor vehicles were in short supply, and the tank regiment likely had no tanks at all. For practical purposes the division was motorized in name only, and within a month the decision was made to reform the 220th as a standard rifle division.

The division operated as part of the 23rd Mechanized Corps, itself part of 19th Army in June and July 1941, but by 1 August 1941, was shifted into 32nd Army, part of the Reserve Front.

The division was in 32nd Army of Reserve Front, east of Smolensk, on July 21 when the reformation officially began. Its order of battle became:

In August the 220th was moved to 49th Army, also in Reserve Front. In early October the division, now in 31st Army, was surrounded north of Vyasma by German forces in Operation Typhoon. Remnants of the division were able to escape from encirclement to join 29th Army in Kalinin Front by Oct. 10. The 653rd Rifle Reg't. was least affected by these events, and fought detached from the rest of the division in 22nd Army for most of the winter; the remainder were kept in reserve in 29th and 30th Armies. In May, 1942, the 220th went into Kalinin Front reserves to be rebuilt.