The 141st Rifle Division was first formed as an infantry division of the Red Army in early September 1939 in the Kharkov Military District, based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13. Although barely formed it took part in the invasion of eastern Poland later that month as part of Ukrainian Front, and the next year also took part in the occupation of the Romanian territories of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. At the start of the German invasion it was in western Ukraine, assigned to 6th Army. As Army Group South advanced the 141st gradually fell back toward Uman, where it was encircled and destroyed in early August, being stricken from the Red Army's order of battle on September 19.
A new 141st began forming on December 26, mostly in the Moscow Military District as part of 3rd, and later 6th Reserve Armies. The latter became the new 6th Army in Voronezh Front in July, but the division was soon transferred to 40th Army of the same Front. Through the summer it fought a series of battles for bridgeheads over the Don River with only minor success. During January 1943, in the wake of Operation Little Saturn, it participated in the offensive that surrounded Axis forces south and west of the Don before pressing on to help liberate Voronezh as part of 60th Army. Following this victory it advanced to the northwest toward Kursk, helping to take that place in early February, then moving due west toward Lgov and Rylsk, being stopped before the latter in March. Now as part of Central Front, the 60th fortified its positions at the tip of the Kursk salient over the following months, although no German attack was expected there. The 141st took no active part in the Kursk offensives, but in late August began an advance through eastern Ukraine which took it to bridgeheads north of Kyiv, soon joining 1st Ukrainian Front. It fought in these positions through October and into early November when the city was captured and it received its name as a battle honor. Later that month it was involved in heavy fighting with German forces attempting to retake the city, and had one rifle regiment encircled at Zhytomyr, which was forced to break out at considerable cost in casualties. Zhytomyr was retaken in the Zhitomir–Berdichev offensive, and during the following Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive the 141st distinguished itself sufficiently to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner. It was now under command of 1st Guards Army. Although this Army was initially holding a defensive line during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation it went over to the attack on July 21 and the division and its subunits received several awards over the following weeks, primarily for the battles for Stanislav, while the division as a whole won the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Following this operation 1st Guards Army was transferred to 4th Ukrainian Front for an advance into the Carpathian Mountains toward Hungary, a grinding campaign that lasted into October, during which the 141st was briefly transferred to 18th Army, and then to 7th Guards Army in 2nd Ukrainian Front, where it would remain for the duration of the war. It played a relatively minor role in the campaign that encircled Budapest, then in the winter of 1945 moved north into Slovakia and Austria, ending the war in Czechoslovakia. The division and its subunits had compiled a fine record with many awards, but it was disbanded in July.
1st Formation The division was formed on the basis of the 239th "Donbas" Rifle Regiment of 80th Rifle Division at Slavyansk in the Kharkov Military District during early September 1939. Given this experienced cadre it was able to take part in the invasion of eastern Poland later that month. Maj. Gen. Yakov Ivanovich Tonkonogov was given command of the 141st on August 16, 1940, and he would remain in command for the duration of the first formation. This officer had served as an advisor to the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War and most recently as deputy commander of the 24th Rifle Division. His chief of staff was Col. Ivan Maksimovich Bondarenko and his deputy commander for political affairs was Brigade Commissar Alexei Yosifovich Kushchevskii. At the start of the German invasion the division was deployed in positions northwest of Proskuriv.Artyom Drabkin and Alexei Isaev, Barbarossa Through Soviet Eyes, trans. C. Summerville, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley, UK, 2012, p. xiii It was in 6th Army's 37th Rifle Corps of the Kiev Special Military District (soon redesignated Southwestern Front), which also contained the 139th and 80th Rifle Divisions.Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 9 Its order of battle was as follows: 687th Rifle Regiment 745th Rifle Regiment 796th Rifle RegimentCharles C. Sharp, "Red Legions", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed Before June 1941, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. VIII, Nafziger, 1996, p. 70 348th Artillery Regiment 253rd Howitzer Artillery Regiment 210th Antitank Battalion 332nd Antiaircraft Battalion 138th Reconnaissance Battalion 207th Sapper Battalion 201st Signal Battalion 146th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 141st Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Platoon 153rd Motor Transport Battalion 153rd Field Bakery 174th Field Postal Station 347th Field Office of the State Bank As word came of the advance of 1st Panzer Group toward Kremenets the 37th Corps began moving to the north, with the 141st arriving at Vyshnivets by June 27. By July 1 the panzers had redirected toward Kyiv and the division was now facing the 57th and 75th Infantry Divisions of XXXXIV Army Corps, still at Vyshnivets. 37th Corps took significant casualties in this stand and by July 7 it had fallen back to the southeast, taking up positions southwest of Starokostiantyniv.David Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 71-72, 78 On July 9 the 141st managed to hold off an attack near Liubar by some 50 tanks backed by motorized infantry. Two days later the Corps was ordered to attack in the direction of Molochki and the division managed to retake two villages. The Corps came under renewed German pressure on July 13, and the 141st was pulled back to second echelon.
By the end of July 14 the 37th Corps was north of the Southern Bug River near Khmilnyk. Elements of 17th Army and its IV Army Corps had now come up against 6th Army and 26th Army to its south and under this pressure by July 23 the 141st had been forced back to positions north of Lypovets.Stahel, Kiev 1941, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012, pp. 78, 84 At this time the 6th was partly encircled, and as it attempted to break out the division, along with 16th Mechanized Corps, were left to cover the withdrawal. As of August 1 the Army had been reassigned to Southern Front,Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1941, p. 33 but this made no difference to its desperate situation, now completely encircled near Uman, along with most of 12th Army. By August 6 the pocket had been liquidated and the 141st was destroyed, apart from individuals and small groups that managed to filter through the German lines, although it was not written off until September 19. Commissar Kushchevskii took his own life to avoid capture, while both Tonkonogov and Bondarenko were taken prisoner and spent the remainder of the war in German camps. Bondarenko was discharged from the Red Army due to his health on his return to the USSR, while Tonkonogov was investigated, cleared, and attended the rifle division commander's advanced training course through 1946 before entering the educational establishment himself. He retired in February 1949 and died in Kyiv on May 15, 1985.
2nd Formation A new 141st was formed at Kazan in the Volga Military District on December 26, 1941,Sharp, "Red Swarm", Soviet Rifle Divisions Formed From 1942 to 1945, Soviet Order of Battle World War II, Vol. X, Nafziger, 1996, p. 54 but was very quickly moved to the Moscow Military District to complete its formation,Walter S. Dunn Jr., Stalin's Keys to Victory, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007, p. 101 which took several months. Its order of battle was very similar to that of the 1st formation: 687th Rifle Regiment 745th Rifle Regiment 796th Rifle Regiment 348th Artillery Regiment 190th Antitank BattalionSharp, "Red Swarm", p. 54 138th Reconnaissance Company 207th Sapper Battalion 201st Signal Battalion (later 210st, 655th Companies) 146th Medical/Sanitation Battalion 496th Chemical Defense (Anti-gas) Company 153rd Motor Transport Battalion 413th Field Bakery 874th Divisional Veterinary Hospital 1717th Field Postal Station 2158th Field Office of the State Bank Col. Yakov Stepanovich Vorobyov was assigned to command the day the division began forming. This officer had been an instructor at the Frunze Military Academy in 1939, and in the past few months had served in several staff positions. In May the division was assigned to the 3rd Reserve Army of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command,Sharp, "Red Swarm", p. 54 and on May 14 Vorobyov left the division, being replaced by Col. Yakov Petrovich Tetushkin. Vorobyov went on to lead a pair of rifle corps and reached the rank of lieutenant general before the end of the war. Case Blue In June the division was reassigned to 6th Reserve Army, which became part of the active army as the new 6th Army on July 2.David M. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2009, p. 109 On June 23 Tetushkin had been ordered to take up defensive positions on the east bank of the Don River, near the mouth of the Voronezh. He led the division into combat on July 7 in an effort to cross the Don. Ten days later it was transferred to 40th Army, still in Voronezh Front. During the month it suffered 2,747 casualties, most heavily in the 796th Rifle Regiment. Another crossing effort began on August 8 and led to only limited results at considerable cost in casualties through to September 22.https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=150542644. In Russian. Retrieved October 10, 2025. On September 30 Tetushkin left the division and was replaced by Lt. Col. Semyon Sergeevich Rassadnikov. This officer was in turn replaced on November 27 by Col. Nikolai Ivanovich Shpilev.
Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive
Just prior to the start of this offensive on January 13, 1943, Shpilev left the 141st and was replaced by Rassadnikov, who had been promoted to full colonel. In the planning for the operation Voronezh Front chose to launch three attacks against those parts of Hungarian 2nd Army and Italian 8th Army that made up the Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh grouping. 40th Army, now under command of Maj. Gen. K. S. Moskalenko, would form the northern group with five rifle divisions, a rifle brigade, a tank corps, and other reinforcements. The main force would attack from the bridgehead at Storozhevoe toward Boldyrevka, Krasnoe, and Alekseevka, linking up with forces of the Front's southern group and completing the encirclement. The Army's breakthrough sector was wide from Height 187 to Devitsa and the first echelon consisted of the 141st (less one regiment), the 25th Guards, 340th, and 107th Rifle Divisions, supported by three tank brigades. The third regiment, plus the division's training and machine gun battalions, would cover a sector from Kremenchug to Anoshkino. Following the breakthrough the main body would bypass a strongpoint at 1st Storozhevoe to reach Mastyugino, helping to shield the Army's right flank. The 141st did not have any direct armor support.Soviet General Staff, Rollback, ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, Kindle ed., Part III, chs. 2, 3