The 167th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, formed twice.

History

First Formation

The division was formed at Balashov in the

Volga Military District The Volga Military District (PriVO) was a military district of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation that existed from 1918 to 1989 and 1992 to 2001. The district headquarters was located at Kazan, Saratov and Kuibyshev (Samara) at differen ...

in July 1940, under the command of ''Kombrig'' Vasily Rakovsky. Just before the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, the June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, the division became part of the

63rd Rifle Corps The 63rd Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice. First formation The corps headquarters was first formed during September 1939 in the Volga Military District. It was part of the 21st Army in June 1941, with th ...

. After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the division and its corps were sent to the front, joining the 21st Army of the Reserve of the High Command (Stavka reserve). From 28 June, the 167th fought in defense of positions between

Rogachev Rahachow or Rogachev (, ; ; ; , ) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Rahachow District. Rahachow is located between the Drut and Dnieper rivers. As of 2025, it has a population of 31,490. History The ...

and

Zhlobin Zhlobin (; ; ; ) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper River, and serves as the administrative center of Zhlobin District. It is situated from Gomel. As of 2025, it has a population of 76,304. The town is notable fo ...

. During the Battle of Smolensk the division repulsed German attempts to cross the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

. Launching a counterattack, it advanced to the line of the

Drut River The Drut or Druts (, ; , ) is a river in Belarus, a right tributary of Dnieper. It originates in the Orsha Upland in the Belarusian Ridge and flows through the Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel regions of Belarus. It is long, and has a drainage ba ...

and remained there until 12 August, when it was withdrawn to the army reserve. Relocated to the area of Dovsk, the division defended the latter as part of the

67th Rifle Corps The 67th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice. First formation The corps was formed in March 1940 in the Kharkov Military District with the 102nd Rifle Division, 132nd, and 151st Rifle Divisions, 194th S ...

, fighting in encirclement from 13 August. Due to its loss of contact with the 67th Rifle Corps, the 167th returned to the control of the 63rd Rifle Corps from 14 August. In the encirclement, Rakovsky decided to destroy heavy weapons and ordered the division to escape in groups. He led a group of 25 others out of the encirclement with their weapons in the sector of the 155th Rifle Division of the

Bryansk Front The Bryansk Front () was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Red Army during the World War II, Second World War. First Formation (August - November 1941) General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it fi ...

on 18 September; about 2,500 men of the division escaped the encirclement. The units that escaped encirclement were disbanded and their men used to reinforce other units.

Second Formation

On 16 December 1941, the 438th Rifle Division was formed in the Ural Military District. On 23 January 1942, it became the 167th Rifle Division (Second Formation). The division was recreated at Ssucho Lug in February 1942 and fought near Bryansk and at Kursk. The division fought in the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II. Being one of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost four million troops at one point and stretched over a front. Ov ...

. Division personnel Major Fyodor Bruy, Junior lieutenant Alexander Bondarev, Sergeant major Arkady Chepelev, Senior sergeant Alexey Gabrusev, Sergeant Andrian Zhuravlev and Private Dmitry Yemelyanov, among others, were awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

for their actions during the battle.warheroes.ru The division fought in the Carpathians and in Hungary. The division was with the 1st Guards Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front in May 1945. The division ended the war with the honorifics "Sumy-Kiev Twice Red Banner". Postwar, the division moved to Chortkov with the 107th Rifle Corps, part of the 38th Army in the

Carpathian Military District The Red Banner Carpathian Military District (, ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Cold War and subsequently of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the early Post-Soviet period. It was established on 3 May 1946 on the ...

. The division and its corps were disbanded in May 1946.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*Poirer and Connor, Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War.
Iremember.ru Interview with a veteran of the division
{{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner 1941 establishments in the Soviet Union