The 289th Rifle Division () was an infantry division 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 ...

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 ...

, formed twice. The division was first formed in the summer of 1941, after the

German invasion of the Soviet Union 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 a ...

, and was sent to the front and destroyed in the Battle of Kiev in September. The division was formed a second time in October 1941 from the 5th Rifle Brigade, a separate infantry brigade fighting in the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

against Finnish and German troops in

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

. The new division spent most of the war in Karelia and in the summer of 1944 fought in the

Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive or Karelian offensive was a strategic operation by the Soviet Leningrad and Karelian Fronts against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia fronts of the Continuation War, on the Eastern Front of Wor ...

, which resulted in the end of the Continuation War in September. The division was stationed at

Belomorsk Belomorsk (; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Belomorsky District in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the Onega Bay on the shore of the White Sea. Population: History In the beginning it was a small village named ...

in Karelia until its disbandment after the end of World War II in July 1946.

First Formation

The 289th Rifle Division began forming from reservists on 10 July 1941 at

Lubny Lubny (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Lubny Raion. It also hosts the administration of , one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History Lubny is reputed to be one of the oldes ...

. Its basic order of battle included the 1044th, 1046th, and 1048th Rifle Regiments, as well as the 281st Artillery Regiment. At the beginning of August, the division was assigned to the Southwestern Front's 26th Army. The division arrived at the 26th Army's positions from 2 to 5 August, taking up a defense along 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 ...

southeast of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. The division fought in the Battle of Kiev and was destroyed in the Kiev pocket in September, along with most of the 26th Army. While the division was officially disbanded on 19 September, its commander and some remnants escaped to provide a cadre for the division's second formation. During its fighting in August, the division suffered disintegration: 76.9% of the division's personnel were reported ''missing in action'' between 10 August and 20 August 1941 alone.

Second Formation

The division's second formation was formed on 15 October 1941 from the 5th Rifle Brigade. The 5th Rifle Brigade had been redesignated on 5 October 1941 from the Murmansk Rifle Brigade, which was also called the Grivnik Brigade. The Murmansk Rifle Brigade was originally formed in July 1941. The brigade fought alongside the Soviet 88th Rifle Division against the Finnish J-Group of the Finnish III Corps and the German SS North during

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 ...

. They beat back both forces, forcing the Finno-German troops to retire to the city of Kestenga, near

Lake Topozero Lake Topozero (, ) is a large freshwater lake in the Republic of Karelia, northwestern part of Russia. It has an area of long, and a drainage basin of . It is 75.3 km long and 30.3 km wide. Maximum depth is about 50 m. There are more t ...

in September 1941. The brigade consisted of some local militia, the 242nd Rifle Regiment of the 104th Rifle Division and probably an artillery battalion of the same division. The division fought in Karelia for the rest of the war. In April 1942 it became part of the 32nd Army. From June to August 1944 it fought in the Svir-Petrozavodsk Offensive, during which it fought in the recapture of southern Karelia. The advances made in the offensive resulted in the Finnish ending the Continuation War in September. After the end of the Continuation War, the division became part of the

4th Rifle Corps The 4th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army, active from the 1920s. First Formation It was formed during the Russian Civil War as part of the Western Front of the Red Army in May and June 1922. The corps headquarters was stationed in Vitebsk ...

of the

Belomorsky Military District The Belomorsky Military District () was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, active from in the immediate aftermath of the Russian Civil War and just after the Second World War. The District was formed by the decree of the Council of ...

by May 1945.Poirier and Connor The division was disbanded there with the corps on 10 July 1946.

Commanders

The following officer commanded the division's first formation. * Colonel Dmitry Makshanov (10 July 19 September 1941) The following officers commanded the division's second formation. * Colonel Dmitry Makshanov (19 September 20 October 1941) * Colonel Nikolai Chernukha (20 October 1941 27 March 1942) * Major General Toivo Tommola (28 March 1942 28 June 1944) * Major General Nikolai Chernukha (29 June 1944 9 May 1945)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * Poirier and Conner primarily used the wartime files of the German Foreign Armies East ('FHO') intelligence section, of which substantial sections are now held by the U.S. National Archives * * {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1941