8th Guards Rifle Division

Ivan Panfilov 8th Guards Rifle Division
An artillery unit of the division's 19th Guards Regiment near the front, 1943.
Active	12 July 1941 – January 2003 11 July 2011 – present
Country	Soviet Union (1941–1991) Kyrgyzstan (1992–2003, 2011–present)
Allegiance	Kyrgyzstan
Branch	Army
Type	Motorized infantry division
Garrison/HQ	Tokmok
Nickname(s)	Panfilov's Men
March	March of the Panfilov Division
Anniversaries	12 July (formation day)
Engagements	World War II
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Melis Satybaldiev
Notable commanders	Ivan Panfilov

The 8th Guards Panfilov Division (Russian: 8-я гвардейская Панфиловская дивизия) originally the 316th Rifle Division, is a motorized infantry division of the Military of Kyrgyzstan. Formed as a soviet Red Army division during World War II, it was dissolved in 2003 but established anew in 2011. Its full title is 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.

After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, reserves were mobilized to be sent to the front. On 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 Kirghiz SSR, was appointed its commander. The reservists allotted to the 316th were mostly from the two republics. It consisted of:

The 316th's 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 had already taken 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.

In early October, the Germans began 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 (Western Front), and ordered to defend a 41-km long sector along the Ruza River, especially the highway passing through Volokolamsk. The 316th was reinforced with the 690th Rifle Regiment from the 126th Rifle Division, as well as the 289th and 296th Anti-tank Regiments.