[6] In spite of directions from above, the commander of German XXX Army Corps began an attack on the 109th on June 7, 1942, as part of the overall final offensive against Sevastopol.

Novikov decided to attempt to relieve one regiment of that division in place on the night of June 12/13, but this move was detected by the Germans who successfully launched an attack to disrupt it.

While the rest of the division continued to hold firm, Novikov had no option but to pull his forces back 1,000 - 1,500 metres on June 16 roughly along the line of the Sapun Heights.

Realizing he was about to be cut off, Novikov ordered his division to force-march toward Coastal Battery 35 on the Chersonese Peninsula, where he formed a defensive perimeter with about 50,000 men, mostly stragglers.

He was handed command of the Separate Coastal Army on the 30th as the Soviet leadership fled; when he tried to follow in a sub-chaser on July 2 the ship was intercepted and sunk, and Novikov was captured.

456th Rifle Regiment made a last stand around Coastal Battery 18, but by the evening of July 4 all the remaining forces on the peninsula were destroyed or captured.

[10] Its partial order of battle became: Upon its redesignation, the division was under the command of Col. Mikhail Danilovich Papchenko, but he was replaced within a week by Col. Nikolai Andreevich Trushkin.

[16] In May, the 109th Rifle Division was transferred north to the 21st Army on the Karelian Isthmus as part of the upcoming Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, which aimed to force Finland out of the war.

[9] During the offensive, the 109th played a crucial role in breaching the second main Finnish defences, the partially-completed VT-line, at Kuuterselkä on June 15, capturing several strongpoints and forcing the Finns to retire to the VKT-line as a result.