The 81st Rifle Division was an
infantry division
A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...
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 ...
during World War II.
It was established at Lubny (Kiev or
Kharkov Military District The Kharkov Military District () was a military district of the Russian Empire, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and the Soviet Union. Throughout its history, the district headquarters was located in the city of Kharkov in northeast ...
s) 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
The 4th Ukrainian Front () was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II.
The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, by renaming the Southern Front and was involved in the Lower ...
5.45.
References
*Robert G. Poirier and Albert Z. Conner, The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Novato: Presidio Press, 1985. .
{{Soviet Union divisions before 1945
081
Military units and formations established in 1936