| 241st Rifle Division (December 13, 1941 – July 1945) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1945 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Demyansk Pocket Battle of Demyansk (1943) Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation Battle of the Dniepr Battle of Kiev (1943) Zhitomir–Berdichev offensive Uman–Botoșani offensive Lvov–Sandomierz offensive Battle of the Dukla Pass Western Carpathian offensive Moravia–Ostrava offensive Prague offensive |
| Decorations |  Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Order of the Red Star |
| Battle honours | Vinnytsia |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovskii  Maj. Gen. Pavel Grigorevich Arabei Col. Timofei Andronikovich Andrienko Maj. Gen. Stanislav Antonovich Ivanovskii |
The 241st Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army from the remnants of the 28th Tank Division in November/December 1941. It was based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941 and was reformed in the 27th Army of Northwestern Front. It was soon moved to 34th Army and later to 53rd Army in the same Front, playing a relatively minor role in the battles against German 16th Army's forces in the Demyansk salient into the first months of 1943. Following the evacuation of the salient the division was moved southward to the Steppe Military District, joining the 2nd formation of the 27th Army. It next saw action in Voronezh Front's counteroffensive following the German offensive at Kursk, becoming involved in the complex fighting around Okhtyrka and then advancing through eastern Ukraine toward the Dniepr River. The 241st took part in the unsuccessful battles to break out of the bridgehead at Bukryn and after the liberation of Kyiv it was reassigned to 38th Army, remaining under that command, assigned to various rifle corps, mostly the 67th, for the duration of the war. In the spring of 1944, it won a battle honor in western Ukraine, and during the summer several of its subunits received recognition in the battles for Lviv and Sambir. During the autumn it entered the Carpathian Mountains and took part in the fighting for the Dukla Pass before being transferred, along with the rest of 38th Army, to the 4th Ukrainian Front. This Front advanced through Slovakia and southern Poland in the first months of 1945 and the division's subunits won further distinctions, but the division itself only received one, fairly minor, decoration. It ended the war near Prague and was disbanded during the summer.