The 87th Rifle Division was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

, active before, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and afterwards.

First formation

It formed in the first half of 1936 in the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exis ...

as the personnel division for the defense in the Korosten Fortified Area with the subordination of its divisions. It was based in the Belokorovichi area. In September 1939, it took part in the annexation of Western Ukraine and as of 17 September and 2 October 1939 was part of the 15th Rifle Corps of the 5th Army Ukrainian Front. September 19th Division near Kostopil entered into battle with Polish forces of up to two infantry regiments. Major General

Filipp Alyabushev Filipp Fyodorovich Alyabushev (November 13, 1893 – June 25, 1941) was a Soviet major general in World War II. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. He joined the Bolsheviks in 1918 and fought against the White movemen ...

commanded the division between 13 March and his death on 25 June 1941. He was replaced by Colonel Nikolay Ivanovich Vasilyev, who commanded the division until its destruction. By June 1941, it included the 16th, 96th, and 283rd Rifle Regiments, the 197th Artillery Regiment, the 212th Howitzer Artillery Regiment, and smaller units. It was officially disbanded on 19 September 1941.

Second formation

The division was reformed from the

3rd Airborne Corps Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

on 20 November 1941; the commander of the latter, Colonel

Alexander Rodimtsev Alexander Ilich Rodimtsev (; 8 March 1905 13 April 1977) was a colonel general in the Red Army during World War II and who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1937 and 1945. Career Rodimtsev joined the Red Army in the 1920s. He fo ...

, continued in command of the 87th for the duration of its existence. It included the 16th, 96th, and 283rd Rifle Regiments, the 197th Artillery Regiment, and smaller units. It was converted into the

13th Guards Rifle Division The 13th Guards Poltava Order of Lenin Twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army that was highly decorated during World War II. Formed in January 1942 from the 87th Rifle Division ...

on 19 January 1942.

Third formation

The division was reformed in 1942. It included the 1378th, 1379th, and 1382nd Rifle Regiments, the 1058th Artillery Regiment, and smaller units. It was part of the active army from 21 July to 14 September 1942, 23 November 1942 to 10 September 1943, 16 October 1943 to 20 May 1944, and 1 July 1944 to the end of the war in Europe. Wartime commanders were Colonel Alexander Ignatyevich Kazartsyev from 8 March to 27 December 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Sergeyevich Yekhokhin (promoted to colonel 22 March 1943) from 28 December 1942 to 2 August 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Stepanovich Ivanov (promoted to colonel 21 September 1943) from 5 August 1943 to 1 May 1944, and Colonel Georgy Petrovich Kulyako from 2 May 1944 to after the end of the war. In August 1945, it was withdrawn to

Izhevsk Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city i ...

in the

Kazan Military District The Kazan Military District was a Military district of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, which existed between 1864—1918 and 1945–1946. History The Kazan Military District was originally formed as a military district of the Russian Emp ...

with the 10th Rifle Corps. There, it was reduced to the 12th Separate Rifle Brigade in 1946, and became part of the

Ural Military District The Red Banner Ural Military DistrictHistory of the Ural Military District / Edited by Alexander Egorovsky, Ivan Tutarinov – 1 – Moscow: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union, 1970 – 352 Pages – 11,500 ...

with the corps after the Kazan Military District was disbanded in May 1946. The latter was disbanded in March 1947. It had the honorifics Perekop Red Banner.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Soviet Union divisions before 1945 Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II Military units and formations established in the 1930s Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War