17th Rifle Division

For the Guards Rifle Division, see 17th Guards Rifle Division.

17th Rifle Division

Active| 1918–1941
1941–1945
Country|  Soviet Union
Branch|  Red Army
Size| Division
Engagements|

* Russian Civil War
* Polish–Soviet War
* World War II
* Winter War
* Eastern Front
* Belorussian Strategic Defensive
* Operation Bagration
* East Prussian Offensive

Decorations|  Order of the Red Banner
Battle honours| Moscow
Rezkaja
Bobruysk
Commanders
Notable
commanders| Georgy Sofronov (1922–1923, 1924–1930)
Pyotr Filatov (1923–1924)
Georgy Bondar (1932–1937)
Terenty Batsanov (1938–1941)

Military unit

The 17th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II.

## First Formation

[edit]

The division was first formed on 23 October 1918 from the 1st Vitebsk Rifle Division and 2nd Smolensk Rifle Division by the order of the Military council of the Smolensk Defensive Region. The division participated in the Russian Civil War in Lithuania, Ukraine and Belorussia. After the civil war the division participated in the Polish–Soviet War. The division was stationed along the Brezina River in 1920. The division was garrisoned at Nizhny Novgorod (renamed Gorky in 1932) from 1920 to 1939. In 1939 the division was broken up and used to form three divisions, the new 17th, 136th and the 137th Rifle Divisions.[1][2] The new 17th Rifle Division, formed from the 49th Rifle Regiment, continued the traditions of the original 17th.[3]

### Composition

[edit]

* 49th Rifle Regiment
* 50th Rifle Regiment
* 51st Rifle Regiment
* 17th Artillery Regiment

The division was maintained on a reduced status until December 1939 when the division was brought to full strength for the Winter War with Finland. The division returned to Gorky in April 1940. In June 1940 the division was moved to the Lithuanian border and assigned to the Belorussian Military District.[1]

Assigned to 21st Rifle Corps, 10th Army when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 and located in the Vitebsk and Polotsk area. By the end of June the division was surrounded in the area east of Minsk. Though the division was destroyed in late June 1941 it was not officially disbanded until 19 September 1941.[2]

### Composition

[edit]

* 55th Rifle Regiment
* 271st Rifle Regiment
* 278th Rifle Regiment
* 20th Artillery Regiment
* 35th Howitzer Regiment (never formed)
* 390th Howitzer Regiment (added April 1940)

## Second Formation

[edit]

Reformed from the 17th Moscow People's Militia Rifle Division on 26 October 1941. Assigned to the 33rd Army, Reserve Front. In November 1941 it was assigned to the 43rd Army, Western Front where it participated in the Moscow Counteroffensive. The division remained in the Western Front until the summer of 1943. In late July 1943 the division participated in the Orel Strategic Counter-offensive Operation and in late August was transferred to the Bryansk Front. Reassigned to the 53rd Rifle Corps, 48th Army, 1st Belorussian Front in February 1944. The division stayed with this Corps and Army until the end of the war. In June 1944 the division took part in Operation Bagration and the liberation of Bobruisk, Belorussia. From February to April 1945 the division participated in the East Prussian Offensive ending the war there as part of the occupation forces assigned to the Northern Group of Forces.[2]

After a brief period on occupation duty the division was returned to the Soviet Union in the Volga Military District at Yoshkar-Ola where it was reorganized as the 1st Rifle Brigade as part of the 53rd Rifle Corps. It was disbanded in March 1947.[4]

### Composition

[edit]

* 1312th Rifle Regiment
* 1314th Rifle Regiment
* 1316th Rifle Regiment
* 980th Artillery Regiment

### Commanders

[edit]

* Colonel Pyotr Sergeyevich Kozlov (4 July–10 October 1941)
* Colonel Mikhail Pavlovich Safir (11–16 October 1941)
* Colonel Pyotr Sergeyevich Kozlov (16–21 October 1941)
* Kombrig Stepan Ivanovich Lyubarsky (21–24 October 1941)
* General-mayor Dmitry Mikhailovich Selezynov (24 October 1941–24 September 1942)
* Colonel Ivan Leontyevich Ragulya (25–30 September 1942)
* Lieutenant Colonel Matvey Kononenko (30 September–7 October 1942)
* Colonel Ivan Leontyevich Ragulya (8 October 1942–14 September 1943, promoted to general-mayor 14 February 1943)
* Colonel Pavel Stepanovich Romanenko (15 September 1943–6 January 1944)
* Colonel Viktor Aleksandrovich Ivanov (7 January–9 May 1944)
* Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Pavlovich Lukin (10 May–24 October 1944, promoted to colonel 15 August)
* Colonel Andrey Feoktistovich Grebnev (25 October 1944–20 February 1945)
* Colonel Pyotr Ivanovich Skachkov (21–27 February 1945)
* Colonel Andrey Fekotistovich Grebnev (28 February–31 July 1945)
* Colonel Mikhail Pavlovich Serebrov (21 July 1945–January 1946)
* General-mayor Ivan Vasilyevich Mokhin (February–September 1946)

## See also

[edit]

* List of infantry divisions of the Soviet Union 1917–1957

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b Conner, Albert (1985). Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-237-9.
2. ^ a b c Crofoot, Craig. Armies of the Bear, Vol 1. Part 1.
3. ^ Dvoinykh, Kariaeva & Stegantsev 1993, pp. 80–81.
4. ^ Feskov et al 2013, p. 148

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Dvoinykh, L.V.; Kariaeva, T.F.; Stegantsev, M.V., eds. (1993). Центральный государственный архив Советской армии: Путеводитель [A Guide to the Central State Archive of the Soviet Army] (in Russian). Vol. 2\. Minneapolis: Eastview Publications. ISBN 1879944030. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017.
* Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.

* v
* t
* e

Soviet divisions of the Russian Civil War

Rifle divisions|

| 1st – 9th|

* 1st
* 1st Communist
* 1st Don
* 1st Estland
* 1st Estonian
* 1st Inza
* 1st Kamyshin
* 1st Krasnouralsk
* 1st Siberian
* 1st Steel
* 1st Transbaikal
* 1st Tula
* 1st Turkestan
* 1st Ust-Medveditskaya Soviet
* 2nd (Army of Soviet Latvia)
* 2nd Consolidated
* 2nd Priamur
* 2nd Tula
* 2nd Turkestan
* 3rd Crimean
* 3rd Kazan
* 3rd Taman
* 3rd Turkestan
* 4th Petrograd
* 4th Smolensk
* 4th Ural
* 5th Saratov
* 5th Vitebsk
* 6th Oryol
* 7th Vladimir
* 8th Minsk
* 9th
* 9th Don

|

10th – 19th|

* 10th Tambov
* 11th Petrograd
* 12th
* 13th
* 15th
* 15th Inza
* 15th Sivash
* 16th Simbirsk
* 17th Nizhny Novgorod
* 18th Yaroslavl
* 19th

|

20th – 29th|

* 20th (I)
* 20th (II)
* 21st Perm
* 22nd Krasnodar
* 23rd
* 24th Samara
* 24th Simbirsk
* 25th Poltava
* 26th Zlatoust
* 27th Omsk
* 28th
* 28th Tsaritsyn
* 28th VNUS
* 29th
* 29th Vyatka

|

30th – 39th|

* 30th Irkutsk
* 31st (9th Kuban Army)
* 31st Turkestan
* 32nd
* 33rd (10th Terek-Dagestan Army)
* 33rd Kuban
* 34th
* 35th Siberian
* 36th
* 36th (Field troops)
* 37th
* 37th Novocherkassk
* 38th
* 38th VNUS
* 39th
* 39th VNUS

|

40th – 49th|

* 40th Boguchar
* 40th (Field troops)
* 41st (13th Army)
* 41st (14th Army)
* 42nd
* 43rd (I)
* 43rd (II)
* 44th Kiev
* 45th Volyn
* 46th Yekaterinoslav
* 47th (12th Army)
* 47th (14th Army)
* 48th Taman
* 48th Tver
* 49th

|

50th – 59th|

* 50th Taman
* 51st Moscow
* 51st Perekop
* 52nd Yekaterinburg
* 54th
* 55th (13th Army)
* 55th
* 56th Moscow
* 57th
* 57th Yekaterinburg
* 58th Oryol
* 59th
* 59th VNUS

|

60th – 64th|

* 60th
* 61st
* 62nd
* 62nd VNUS
* 64th VNUS

|

* Azerbaijan
* Consolidated
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Nikolayevsk
* Orenburg
* Western

Infantry divisions|

* 1st Kursk
* 1st Mogilev
* 1st Nikolayevsk
* 1st Novgorod
* 1st Oryol
* 1st Penza
* 1st Petrograd
* 1st Ryazan
* 1st Samara
* 1st Simbirsk Consolidated Iron
* 1st Smolensk
* 1st Tambov
* 1st Tula
* 1st Tver
* 1st Ural
* 1st Voronezh
* 1st Vitebsk
* 1st Yaroslavl
* 2nd
* 2nd Kursk
* 2nd Moscow
* 2nd Nikolayevsk
* 2nd Novgorod
* 2nd Oryol
* 2nd Penza
* 2nd Petrograd
* 2nd Tula
* 2nd Tver
* 2nd Voronezh
* 3rd Moscow
* 3rd Petrograd
* 3rd Voronezh
* 5th Ural
* 7th Reserve
* 30th Nikolayevsk Soviet
* Consolidated Simbirsk
* Consolidated Ural
* Gatchina
* Luga
* Mologa
* Nikolayev
* Novorzhev
* Pskov
* Staraya Russa

Cavalry divisions|

* 1st
* 1st Caucasian Red
* 1st Consolidated
* 1st Mountain
* 1st Siberian
* 1st Soviet
* 1st Stavropol
* 1st Tomsk
* 1st Turkestan
* 1st West Siberian
* 1st Zaporizhia Red Cossacks
* 2nd
* 2nd Chernigov Red Cossacks
* 2nd Oryol
* 2nd Siberian
* 2nd Stavropol
* 2nd Turkestan
* 2nd West Siberian
* 3rd Turkestan
* 3rd Bessarabian
* 4th Petrograd
* 5th Kuban
* 5th Turkestan
* 6th Chongar Red
* 7th Samara
* 8th Zaporizhia Red Cossacks
* 9th Crimean
* 10th
* 10th Kuban
* 11th Gomel
* 12th
* 13th Siberian
* 14th Maikop
* 15th Siberian
* 16th
* 17th Chernigov Red Cossacks
* 17th (12th Army)
* 18th
* 18th Labinskaya
* 19th
* 20th
* 21st
* Consolidated
* Ekimov's
* Kuban
* Kuryshko's
* Moscow
* Separate
* Separate Bashkir
* Separate Kalmyk
* 8th Army Separate
* 9th Army
* 10th Army
* 1st (1st Cavalry Corps)
* 2nd (1st Cavalry Corps)

Other|

* 1st Insurgent
* 1st Soviet Taman
* 2nd Moscow Workers
* 2nd Soviet Taman
* 1st Zadneprovsk Ukrainian
* 1st Transdnieper Ukrainian
* 2nd Ukrainian
* 3rd Ukrainian
* 4th Ukrainian
* 5th Ukrainian
* 6th Ukrainian
* 7th Ukrainian
* Eastern
* Inza Revolutionary
* Marine Expeditionary
* Special Insurgent
* Special International
* Special Red Militsiya
* Western

* v
* t
* e

List of Soviet divisions (1917–1945)

Airborne|

* 1st Guards
* 2nd Guards
* 3rd Guards
* 4th Guards
* 5th Guards
* 6th Guards
* 7th Guards
* 8th Guards
* 9th Guards
* 10th Guards
* 11th Guards
* 12th Guards
* 13th Guards
* 14th Guards
* 15th Guards
* 16th Guards

Cavalry|

* 1st
* 1st Guards
* 2nd
* 2nd Guards
* 3rd
* 3rd Guards
* 4th
* 4th Guards
* 5th
* 5th Guards
* 6th
* 6th Guards
* 7th
* 7th Guards
* 8th
* 8th Guards
* 9th
* 9th Guards
* 10th
* 10th Guards
* 11th
* 11th Guards
* 12th
* 12th Guards
* 13th
* 13th Guards
* 14th
* 14th Guards
* 15th
* 15th Guards
* 16th
* 16th Guards
* 17th Mountain
* 17th Guards
* 18th
* 19th
* 20th
* 21st Mountain
* 22nd
* 23rd
* 24th
* 25th
* 26th
* 27th
* 28th
* 29th
* 30th
* 31st
* 32nd
* 33rd
* 34th
* 35th
* 36th
* 37th
* 38th
* 39th
* 40th
* 41st
* 42nd
* 43rd
* 44th
* 45th
* 46th
* 47th
* 48th
* 49th
* 50th
* 51st
* 52nd
* 53rd
* 54th
* 55th
* 56th
* 57th
* 58th
* 59th
* 60th
* 61st
* 62nd
* 63rd
* 65th
* 66th
* 67th
* 68th
* 70th
* 72nd
* 73rd
* 74th
* 75th
* 76th
* 77th
* 78th
* 79th
* 80th
* 81st
* 82nd
* 83rd
* 84th
* 87th
* 91st
* 94th
* 97th
* 98th
* 99th
* 100th
* 101st
* 102nd
* 103rd
* 104th
* 105th
* 106th
* 107th
* 108th
* 109th
* 110th
* 111th
* 112th
* 113th
* 114th
* 115th
* 116th

Rifle|

* 1st
* 2nd
* 3rd
* 4th
* 5th
* 6th
* 7th
* 8th
* 9th
* 10th
* 11th
* 12th
* 13th
* 14th
* 15th
* 16th
* 17th
* 18th
* 19th
* 20th
* 21st
* 22nd
* 23rd
* 24th
* 25th
* 26th
* 27th
* 28th
* 29th
* 30th
* 31st
* 32nd
* 33rd
* 34th
* 35th
* 36th
* 37th
* 38th
* 39th
* 40th
* 41st
* 42nd
* 43rd
* 44th
* 45th
* 46th
* 47th
* 48th
* 49th
* 50th
* 51st
* 52nd
* 53rd
* 54th
* 55th
* 56th
* 57th
* 58th
* 59th
* 60th
* 61st
* 62nd
* 63rd
* 64th (1925)
* 64th (1942)
* 65th
* 66th
* 67th
* 69th
* 70th
* 71st
* 72nd
* 73rd
* 74th
* 75th
* 76th
* 77th
* 78th
* 79th
* 80th
* 81st
* 82nd
* 83rd
* 84th
* 85th
* 86th
* 87th
* 88th
* 89th
* 90th
* 91st
* 92nd
* 93rd (1936)
* 93rd (June 1942)
* 94th
* 95th
* 96th
* 97th
* 98th
* 99th
* 100th
* 101st
* 102nd
* 103rd
* 104th
* 105th
* 106th
* 107th
* 108th
* 109th
* 110th
* 111th
* 112th
* 113th
* 114th
* 115th
* 116th
* 117th
* 118th
* 119th
* 120th
* 121st
* 122nd
* 123rd
* 124th
* 125th
* 126th
* 127th
* 128th
* 129th
* 130th
* 131st
* 132nd
* 133rd
* 134th
* 135th
* 136th
* 137th
* 138th
* 139th
* 140th
* 141st
* 142nd
* 143rd
* 144th
* 145th
* 146th
* 147th
* 148th
* 149th
* 150th
* 151st
* 152nd
* 153rd
* 154th
* 155th
* 156th
* 157th
* 158th
* 159th (July 1940)
* 159th (Jan. 1942)
* 159th (May 1943)
* 160th (1940)
* 160th (1941)
* 161st
* 162nd
* 163rd
* 164th
* 165th
* 166th
* 167th
* 168th
* 169th
* 170th
* 171st
* 172nd
* 173rd
* 174th
* 175th
* 176th
* 177th
* 178th
* 179th
* 180th
* 181st
* 182nd
* 183rd
* 184th
* 185th
* 186th (1939)
* 186th (1941)
* 187th
* 188th
* 189th
* 190th
* 191st
* 192nd (1942)
* 192nd
* 193rd
* 194th
* 195th
* 196th
* 197th
* 198th
* 199th
* 200th
* 201st
* 202nd
* 203rd
* 204th
* 205th
* 206th
* 207th
* 208th
* 209th
* 210th
* 211th
* 212th
* 213th
* 214th
* 215th
* 216th
* 217th
* 218th
* 219th
* 220th
* 221st
* 222nd
* 223rd
* 224th
* 225th
* 226th
* 227th
* 228th
* 229th
* 230th
* 231st
* 232nd
* 233rd
* 234th
* 235th
* 236th
* 237th
* 238th
* 239th
* 240th
* 241st
* 242nd
* 243rd
* 244th
* 245th
* 246th
* 247th
* 248th
* 249th
* 250th
* 251st
* 252nd
* 253rd
* 254th
* 255th
* 256th
* 257th (July 1941)
* 257th (November 1941)
* 257th (July 1943)
* 258th
* 259th
* 260th
* 261st
* 262nd
* 263rd
* 264th
* 265th
* 266th
* 267th
* 268th
* 269th
* 270th
* 271st
* 272nd
* 273rd
* 274th
* 275th
* 276th
* 277th
* 278th
* 279th
* 280th
* 281st
* 282nd
* 283rd
* 284th
* 285th
* 286th
* 287th
* 288th
* 289th
* 290th
* 291st
* 292nd
* 293rd
* 294th
* 295th
* 296th
* 297th
* 298th
* 299th
* 300th
* 301st
* 302nd
* 303rd
* 304th
* 305th
* 306th
* 307th
* 308th
* 309th
* 310th
* 311th
* 312th
* 313th
* 314th
* 315th
* 316th
* 317th
* 318th
* 319th
* 320th
* 321st
* 322nd
* 323rd
* 324th
* 325th
* 326th
* 327th
* 328th
* 329th
* 330th
* 331st
* 332nd
* 333rd
* 334th
* 335th
* 336th
* 337th
* 338th
* 339th
* 340th
* 341st
* 342nd
* 343rd
* 344th
* 345th
* 346th
* 347th
* 348th
* 349th
* 350th
* 351st
* 352nd
* 353rd
* 354th
* 355th
* 356th
* 357th
* 358th
* 359th
* 360th
* 361st
* 362nd
* 363rd
* 364th
* 365th
* 366th
* 367th
* 368th
* 369th
* 370th
* 371st
* 372nd
* 373rd
* 374th
* 375th
* 376th
* 377th
* 378th
* 379th
* 380th
* 381st
* 382nd
* 383rd
* 384th
* 385th
* 386th
* 387th
* 388th
* 389th
* 390th
* 391st
* 392nd
* 393rd
* 394th
* 395th
* 396th
* 397th
* 398th
* 399th
* 400th
* 402nd
* 403rd
* 404th
* 406th
* 407th
* 408th
* 409th
* 411th
* 413th
* 414th
* 415th
* 416th
* 417th
* 421st
* 422nd
* 2nd Priamur
* 1st Crimean
* 2nd Crimean
* 1st Polar
* Petrozavodsk

| Mountain|

* 60th
* 63rd
* 68th
* 72nd
* 83rd
* 192nd

|

Reserve|

* 10th
* 34th
* 35th
* 36th
* 41st
* 50th Lithuanian

|

Guards|

* 1st
* 2nd
* 3rd
* 4th
* 5th
* 6th
* 7th
* 8th
* 9th
* 10th
* 11th
* 12th
* 13th
* 14th
* 15th
* 16th
* 17th
* 18th
* 19th
* 20th
* 21st
* 22nd
* 23rd
* 24th
* 25th
* 26th
* 27th
* 28th
* 29th
* 30th
* 31st
* 32nd
* 33rd
* 34th
* 35th
* 36th
* 37th
* 38th
* 39th
* 40th
* 41st
* 42nd
* 43rd
* 44th
* 45th
* 46th
* 47th
* 48th
* 49th
* 50th
* 51st
* 52nd
* 53rd
* 54th
* 55th
* 56th
* 57th
* 58th
* 59th
* 60th
* 61st
* 62nd
* 63rd
* 64th
* 65th
* 66th
* 67th
* 68th
* 69th
* 70th
* 71st
* 72nd
* 73rd
* 74th
* 75th
* 76th
* 77th
* 78th
* 79th
* 80th
* 81st
* 82nd
* 83rd
* 84th
* 85th
* 86th
* 87th
* 88th
* 89th
* 90th
* 91st
* 92nd
* 93rd
* 94th
* 95th
* 96th
* 97th
* 98th
* 99th
* 100th
* 101st
* 102nd
* 103rd
* 104th
* 105th
* 106th
* 107th
* 108th
* 109th
* 110th
* 111th
* 112th
* 113th
* 114th
* 115th
* 116th
* 117th
* 118th
* 119th
* 120th
* 121st
* 122nd
* 124th
* 125th
* 126th
* 128th
* 129th

Motorized|

* 7th
* 15th
* 29th
* 36th
* 69th
* 81st
* 82nd
* 84th
* 103rd
* 109th
* 131st
* 163rd
* 185th
* 198th
* 202nd
* 204th
* 205th
* 208th
* 209th
* 210th
* 212th
* 213th
* 215th
* 216th
* 218th
* 219th
* 220th
* 221st
* 236th
* 239th
* 240th

Tank|

* 1st
* 2nd
* 3rd
* 4th
* 5th
* 6th
* 7th
* 8th
* 9th
* 10th
* 11th
* 12th
* 13th
* 14th
* 15th
* 16th
* 17th
* 18th
* 19th
* 20th
* 21st
* 22nd
* 23rd
* 24th
* 25th
* 26th
* 27th
* 28th
* 29th
* 30th
* 31st
* 32nd
* 33rd
* 34th
* 35th
* 36th
* 37th
* 38th
* 39th
* 40th
* 41st
* 42nd
* 43rd
* 44th
* 45th
* 46th
* 47th
* 48th
* 49th
* 50th
* 51st
* 52nd
* 53rd
* 54th
* 55th
* 56th
* 57th
* 58th
* 59th
* 60th
* 61st
* 101st
* 102nd
* 103rd
* 104th
* 105th
* 106th
* 107th
* 108th
* 109th
* 110th
* 111th
* 112th
* Amur
* Ussuri

Motor Rifle|

* 2nd Guards
* 3rd Guards
* 36th
* 57th
* 82nd
* 101st
* 106th
* 107th
* 112th
* 3rd Crimean

Other|

* Latvian Riflemen Soviet Divisions
* NKVD
* OMSDON
* People's Militia
* Reboly Direction Division
* Guards unit
* Destruction battalions

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