 | The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. (August 2020) |
| 33rd Guards Rifle Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1942–1946 |
| Country |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | .svg){kind=small} Red Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry |
| Engagements | Case Blue Battle of Stalingrad Operation Winter Storm Tormosin Offensive Rostov Offensive Operation Mius Front Donbass Strategic Offensive (July 1943) Donbass Strategic Offensive (August 1943) Crimean Offensive Vilnius-Kaunas Offensive Šiauliai Offensive Battle of Memel East Prussian Offensive Battle of Königsberg Samland Offensive |
| Decorations |  Order of Suvorov |
| Battle honours | Sevastopol |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Col. Fyodor Aleksandrovich Afanasev Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Ivanovich Utvenko Maj. Gen. Nikolai Ivanovich Seliverstov Col. Nikolai Stepanovich Ugriumov  Maj. Gen. Pavel Mikhailovich Volosatykh Maj. Gen. Konstantin Vladimirovich Vvedenskii Col. Nikolai Ivanovich Krasnov Col. Ivan Mironovich Novikov |
The 33rd Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1942, based on the 2nd formation of the 3rd Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was the second of a series of ten Guards rifle divisions formed from airborne corps during the spring and summer of 1942. It was briefly assigned to the 47th Army in the North Caucasus Front but was soon moved to the Volga Military District and saw its first action as part of 62nd Army in the fighting on the approaches to Stalingrad. It was withdrawn east of the Volga in September, but returned to the front with the 2nd Guards Army in December, and it remained in this Army until early 1945. After helping to defeat Army Group Don's attempt to relieve the trapped 6th Army at Stalingrad the 33rd Guards joined in the pursuit across the southern Caucasus steppe until reaching the Mius River in early 1943. Through the rest of that year it fought through the southern sector of eastern Ukraine as part of Southern Front (later 4th Ukrainian Front) and in the spring of 1944 assisted in the liberation of the Crimea, earning a battle honor in the process. The Crimea was a strategic dead-end, so 2nd Guards Army was moved north to take part in the summer offensive through the Baltic states and to the border with Germany as part of 1st Baltic Front. During the offensive into East Prussia the division and its 13th Guards Rifle Corps was reassigned to 39th and the 43rd Armies before returning to 2nd Guards Army in April. For its part in the capture of the city-fortress of Königsberg the 33rd Guards would receive the Order of Suvorov. In mid-1946 it was converted to the 8th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade.