75th Guards Rifle Division

The 75th Guards Rifle Division (Russian: 75-я гвардейская стрелковая дивизия, romanized: 75-ya gvardeyskaya strelkovaya diviziya) was a Red Army infantry division during World War II and afterwards, which later became the 75th Guards Tank Division and was finally disbanded in the 1990s.

The 75th Guards Rifle Division was redesignated at the beginning of March 1943 from the second formation of the 95th Rifle Division in recognition of the latter's courage and heroism during the Battle of Stalingrad. It fought in the Battle of Kursk, defending positions around Ponyri on the northern face of the Kursk Bulge, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its actions. The division fought in Operation Kutuzov and the Battle of the Dnieper in the summer and early fall. It was awarded the honorific "Bakhmach" for helping to capture that city. The division then fought in the Battle of Kiev and advanced into eastern Belarus towards the end of the year. In January 1944 it fought in the Kalinkovichi-Mozyr offensive and received the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class for its actions. From late June the 75th Guards fought in Operation Bagration, advancing westwards into Belarus. For its actions the division was awarded its second Order of the Red Banner. In September the division was transferred to the Baltic and fought in the Riga offensive. It was relocated to eastern Poland in December and fought in the Vistula–Oder offensive, East Pomeranian offensive, and Battle of Berlin in the final months of the war.

Postwar, the division was withdrawn to Tula and downsized into the 17th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade. The brigade was relocated to Chuguyev, and became the 64th Guards Mechanized Division in 1953. In 1954 it became the 14th Guards Heavy Tank Division, and in 1965 it was redesignated the 75th Guards Tank Division. The division was downsized into a storage base in 1989, and finally disbanded in 1990.