109th Motorized Division (Soviet Union)

109th Motorized Division (January, 1940 – July 19, 1941)
Active1940–1941
Country Soviet Union
Branch Red Army
TypeDivision
RoleMechanized Infantry
EngagementsOperation Barbarossa
Battle of Kiev
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Col. Nikolai Pavlovich Krasnoretskii

The 109th Motorized Division was formed from the 109th Rifle Division in January, 1940, in the Transbaikal Military District. It was one of the first Red Army mechanized divisions formed and also one of the first to be fully equipped with motor vehicles and tanks. Shortly before the German invasion, in late May, 1941, it began moving west by rail, arriving in western Ukraine on June 18. The division went into action on June 26, but by early July had lost most of its tanks and trucks. It was soon pulled back into the reserves of Southwestern Front and converted into the 304th Rifle Division.