The division was formed in the
Ural Military District during October 1941 as the 48th Separate Cadet Rifle Brigade, under the command of Colonel
Andrey Kupriyanov from 25 October. After completing its formation, the brigade was sent to the
Northwestern Front, joining the
4th Shock Army to fight in the
Toropets–Kholm Offensive. After the army transferred to the
Kalinin Front on 22 January, the 48th fought in defensive battles near
Velizh. During May 1942, the brigade was used to form the 215th Rifle Division near Ponizovye (30 kilometers from Troitsa) in the reserve of the
Kalinin Front, with Kupriyanov continuing in command of the division. The 215th included the 618th, 707th, and 711th Rifle Regiments, the 667th Artillery Regiment, the 421st Anti-Tank Battalion, and the 421st Communications Company. A month after its first commander was appointed in mid-May, the division was assigned to the
58th Army. In the following month, it was transferred to the
22nd Army, creating a temporary defensive line from Yefremov Gora to Ponizovye and strengthening the forward portion of the main defensive line near Bukharin, Verkh-Goritsa, and Plyushchevo while defending positions near
Nelidovo. The division became part of the
30th Army of the
Western Front in mid-August,
fighting to capture strongpoints on the left bank of the
Volga, northwest of
Rzhev. Crossing the Volga on 9 September, the 215th fought on the approaches to Rzhev but was stymied by German defenses. Kupriyanov, now a major general, was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner for his leadership of the division in actions between August and October, in which it was credited with destroying up to two German infantry regiments and fifteen tanks. When German forces began
withdrawing from the Rzhev salient, the 30th Army advanced in pursuit from 2 March 1943. The division helped capture Rzhev on the next day and by 19 March it had reached the approaches to the road junction at the village of Novo-Lytkino. Kupriyanov was killed on 20 March in a German artillery bombardment that struck the village where his headquarters was located. He was replaced by Major General
Sergey Iovlev. The 215th remained with the 30th Army until April, when it transferred to the
31st Army, with which it served until the end of 1943. With the 31st Army, the division advanced as part of the
36th Rifle Corps during the
Smolensk–Roslavl Offensive, participating in the capture of
Smolensk and the crossing of the
Sozh River. For its actions in the capture of Smolensk, the division received the name of the city as an honorific on 25 September. At the end of 1943, the 215th was transferred to the
33rd Army. Iolev was replaced by Major General
Andranik Ghazaryan, a
Hero of the Soviet Union, in early April. The division was transferred to the
39th Army of the Western Front (the
3rd Belorussian Front from 23 April) on 16 April, and in early May took up defensive position near
Vitebsk. Just before the beginning of
Operation Bagration in late June, the division became part of the
72nd Rifle Corps of the
5th Army. It fought in the
Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive and the
Vilnius Offensive during Operation Bagration, pursuing retreating German troops and crossing the
Berezina River, capturing
Borisov,
Vilnius, and
Kaunas. For its "exemplary fulfillment of command tasks" in the capture of Vilnius the 215th received the
Order of the Red Banner on 25 July. By the end of the summer offensive in August, the average rifle company in the division was reduced to 70 men, about half strength. The division was placed in the second echelon of the 72nd Rifle Corps between 3 September and 16 October, then fought in the
Gumbinnen Offensive. It defended positions near
Pillkallen between 28 October and 13 January 1945 before fighting in the
East Prussian Offensive and the
Insterburg–Königsberg Offensive. For its actions in the former, the division received the
Order of Suvorov, 2nd class on 19 February. The process of attrition continued: by March 1945, after the East Prussian Offensive, the division fielded 2,873 officers and men. Between late March and early April, the 215th marched from Valitnik, 15 kilometers northwest of
Königsberg to fight in the
Samland Offensive. With the 5th Army, it was transferred to the
Reserve of the Supreme High Command on 20 April and began relocating to the
Soviet Far East for the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The division began loading into rail cars on 22 April.
Soviet invasion of Manchuria The 5th Army completed its move to the Far East by July, with the 215th part of the 72nd Rifle Corps together with the
63rd and
277th Rifle Divisions. The 215th fought in the
Harbin–Jilin Operation during the latter with its corps and army, part of the
1st Far East Front. Breaking through Japanese border fortifications, the division pursued retreating Japanese troops and captured
Dunhua. After the end of Japanese resistance, the division guarded the railway at Dunhua,
Jiaohe, and
Jilin, along with factories in the area. It was awarded the
Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class, on 19 September for its actions in the capture of Jilin. Postwar, the 215th was stationed in
Primorsky Krai with its corps and army; Ghazaryan remained in command until about October 1947. It was renumbered as the 33rd Rifle Division on 30 April 1955, stationed at
Krasny Kut. It was disbanded there on 25 July 1956. == References ==