During the Battle of Kursk, the 81st was faced with attacks from the
German Army Detachment Kempf. The division's positions prevented a German advance from the Mikhailovka bridgehead. It initially repulsed the attacks of the
168th Infantry Division on July 5. The
19th Panzer Division broke through near Razumnoe and attacked at the junction of the
78th Guards Rifle Division with the 81st. On the next day the 19th Panzer Division continued to attack along with the 168th and attacked the division's left flank and rear. The 81st put up strong resistance, but
Belovskoe and
Kreida Station were captured. The division's training battalion was sent into battle around
Iastrebovo to stop the German advance. On July 7,
III Panzer Corps tried to outflank the division and the 19th Panzer Division captured
Blizhniaia Igumenka after fierce fighting. In these first days the division was encircled in its forward positions, and in the course of breaking out lost all of its divisional artillery, most of its regimental artillery, and was reduced to 3,000 men reporting for duty, with about 20 percent unarmed. Following this breakout, the division was subordinated to
69th Army on July 9, where it would remain until the end of the battle. It was now in the
35th Guards Rifle Corps, holding a line from Staryi Gorod to Postnikov, preparing for an attack by the III Panzer Corps. During the third assault of the day at 1400 hrs. a neighboring rifle regiment was crushed, and the 81st was outflanked, but the German forces were unable to achieve their objective of Shishino. At 2200 hrs. 69th Army ordered the division to withdraw to new lines, and it was transferred again, now to
48th Rifle Corps, where it would remain until the end of the battle. The new lines ran along the right bank of the
Northern Donets River from Hill 147.0 to Shcholokovo. The panzer troops, much weakened during the previous five days of heavy combat, had to rest and resupply on July 10. When the attack resumed on July 11, 19th Panzer Division took the villages of Khokhlovo and Kiselevo, pinning the 81st against the river. It was apparent that the German objective was to encircle 48th Corps. On the following day, the division thwarted an attempt to force the river at Shcholokovo; its main opponent, 19th Panzer, was by now down to only 14 operational tanks. However, a more successful crossing by
6th Panzer at Rzhavets to the north made the position of the rifle corps even more vulnerable, and elements of
5th Tank Army were diverted to reinforce it. The 81st received the support of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade. Even with this, after a week of heavy fighting and losses, morale was becoming shaky, and Maj. Gen. Morozov issued an order the following day: Between July 12 - 17, 398 men of the 81st were detained by
blocking detachments. On the night of July 13, the
89th Guards Rifle Division and a rifle battalion of
375th Rifle Division were subordinated to Morozov's command. Finally, before dawn on July 15, 48th Rifle Corps began to withdraw from the loose pocket in which it was held, and completed this move by 1040 hrs. The 81st was directed to assemble in the area of Dalnii Dolzhik, where it began a long process of rest and replenishment. ==Advance to the Dniepr==