13th Guards Rifle Division

13th Guards Rifle Division 39th Guards Mechanised Division 13th Guards Tank Division
13-я гвардейская стрелковая Полтавская ордена Ленина дважды Краснознамённая орденов Суворова и Кутузова дивизия
Soviet Guards badge
Active	1942–1989
Country	Soviet Union
Allegiance	Soviet Army
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Engagements	Battle of Kharkov Battle of Stalingrad Battle of Kursk Battle of the Dnieper Operation Bagration Battle of Berlin
Decorations	Order of Lenin  Order of the Red Banner (twice)  Order of Suvorov  Order of Kutuzov
Battle honours	Poltava[1]
Commanders
Notable commanders	Alexander Rodimtsev Gleb Baklanov Vladimir Komarov [ru]

The 13th Guards Poltava Order of Lenin Twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Rifle Division (Russian: 13-я гвардейская стрелковая Полтавская ордена Ленина дважды Краснознамённая орденов Суворова и Кутузова дивизия) was an infantry division of the Red Army that was highly decorated during World War II.

Formed in January 1942 from the 87th Rifle Division (Second Formation) in January 1942, the division suffered heavy losses in the Second Battle of Kharkov and the subsequent Soviet retreat. Rebuilt, the division entered the Battle of Stalingrad in mid-September, in which it distinguished itself during several months of urban combat in the city center and at Mamayev Kurgan. After the end of the battle in early February, the division was withdrawn for rebuilding and in July 1943 joined the 5th Guards Army with which it spent the rest of the war. The division fought in the Battle of Kursk and the subsequent Soviet advance into Ukraine, capturing Dresden in the last days of the war.

After the end of the war, the division was reorganized as the 13th Guards Mechanised Division. It became part of the Soviet occupation forces in Austria during the Cold War and served there until the Soviet withdrawal from the country in 1955. The division was disbanded and merged into the 39th Mechanised Division, which was redesignated as the 39th Guards Mechanized Division to perpetuate the traditions of the 13th Guards. The division fought in the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and was stationed in Hungary for the rest of the Cold War. It was converted into the 21st Guards Tank Division in 1957 and returned to its wartime number as the 13th Guards Tank Division in 1965. As the Cold War drew to a close, the division was withdrawn to Crimea in 1989 and disbanded there under Soviet military reductions.