The 97th Guards Mechanized Brigade () was a

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

, and then a motor-rifle division of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, before becoming a mechanized

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

of the

Ukrainian Ground Forces The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the Army, land forces of Ukraine and one of the five Military branch, branches of the Armed For ...

, based in

Slavuta Slavuta (, russian: link=no, Славу́та, , ) is a city in Shepetivka Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine, located on the Horyn River. The city is located approximately 80 km from the oblast capital, Khmelnytskyi, ...

in western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The full name of the division was the "97th Guards Poltava Motor-Rifle Division,

Red Banner Red Banner (russian: Красное знамя) was a symbol of revolutionary struggle used late Russian Empire, in Soviet Russia, and in the USSR and the background of the Soviet state flag and other similar flags. Military units, instit ...

, Suvorov's,

Bogdan Khmelnitsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

". After the division became part of

Ukrainian Armed Forces , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

it was known as the (''97-ma okrema mekhanizovana bryhada'').

History

World War II

The division was formed in August–September 1941 as the 343rd Rifle Division near the city of

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

. Over the next twelve months it was assigned to the 56th, 6th,

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, 21st, and 24th Armies. The division took part in the defensive operations at

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

, then in the Rostov and Barvenko-Lozovaia offensive operations. Later, it fought in the

Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front during World War II. Its objectiv ...

, then fled eastward to take part in defensive operations near

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

. On July 17, 1942, when the 21st Army joined the Stalingrad Front, the division had 2,795 men and fewer than 20 artillery pieces. After October, 1942, it was assigned to the

66th Army The 66th Army was a field army of the Red Army. It was established in August 1942 from the 8th Reserve Army. The 66th Army fought to break through to the Volga to the north of Stalingrad during September and October 1942. During Operation Uranus, ...

, which later became the

5th Guards Army The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the 66th Army in recognition o ...

. On May 4, 1943, the division was re-designated as the 97th Guards Rifle Division. Its order of battle was as follows: * 289th Guards Rifle Regiment from 1151st Rifle Regiment * 292nd Guards Rifle Regiment from 1153rd Rifle Regiment * 294th Guards Rifle Regiment from 1155th Rifle Regiment * 232nd Guards Artillery Regiment from 903rd Artillery Regiment * 104th Guards Antitank Battalion from 567th Antitank Battalion * 110th Guards Sapper Battalion from 620th Sapper Battalion * 141st Guards Signal Battalion from 791st Signal Battalion * 100th Guards Reconnaissance Company from 402nd Reconnaissance Company The day before its re-designation the division was assigned to the newly-formed 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. On May 2, the commander of the division,

Matvei Usenko Matvei Alekseevich Usenko (russian: Матвей Алексеевич Усенко; , – May 12 1943) was a major general of the Red Army during the World War II, Second World War. Biography In 1918 he joined the Red Army, and during the Civi ...

, was promoted to the rank of Major General. Just ten days later he was killed after being blown up by a land mine while crossing a road in a vehicle. The division took part in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

, along with the rest of 5th Guards Army as part of the

Steppe Front The Steppe Front (russian: Степной фронт) was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War which existed from July to October 1943. History On 9 July 1943, Stavka designated a new Reserve Front in the Voronezh region, that had ...

. Later, it fought in the liberation of

left-bank Ukraine Left-bank Ukraine ( uk, Лівобережна Україна, translit=Livoberezhna Ukrayina; russian: Левобережная Украина, translit=Levoberezhnaya Ukraina; pl, Lewobrzeżna Ukraina) is a historic name of the part of Ukrain ...

. In September, the division was awarded the '

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...

' honorific, along with its sister divisions, the 13th and

95th Guards Rifle Division The 95th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1943, based on the 1st formation of the 226th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It ended the ...

s. In 1944 and 1945, it took part in the Kirovograd, Uman-Botoshany, Lvov-Sandomir, Sandomir-Silesia, Upper and

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and Prague offensives. The division ended the war in 32nd Guards Rifle Corps, still in 5th Guards Army.

Postwar

After

World War II 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 ...

, the division was stationed in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, with the

Central Group of Forces The Central Group of Forces (Russian: Центральная группа войск) was a formation of the Soviet Armed Forces used to incorporate Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945 to 1955 and tr ...

, where it remained until 1946. During that time, the division belonged to the

. After its relocation to

, it became part of the 13th Army. After it moved to Slavuta, the division was downsized into the 28th Separate Guards Rifle Brigade, but became a division again on 16 September 1949. In 1957, it was reorganized from a Rifle into a Motor Rifle division. After the

collapse of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, the division was reorganized into a Brigade, which continued to exist until November 2004, when it was disbanded.

Order of battle

During the late 1980s, the division included the following units. *110th Tank Regiment *289th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment *292nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment *294th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment *232nd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment *1094th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment

Awards

*September 1943 received the honorific "Poltava" *19?? received Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky *19?? received

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 ...

*19?? received the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Matvei Alekseevich Usenko

{{Soviet Union divisions Mechanized brigades of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations established in the 1990s Military units and formations disestablished in 2004 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner