Along with the rest of 61st Army it took part in the second stage of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944, advancing into the Pripyat marshes region, winning a battle honor and shortly thereafter the Order of the Red Banner.

On January 14 the adjacent 49th Army began an attack along its entire front against stubborn resistance in an effort to reach, among other objectives, a fortified line from Kondrovo to Polotnyany Zavod.

412 assigned the 12th Guards to the 49th with the tasks of accelerating to offensive and simultaneously put pressure on the rear of German units operating against its former Army along the Yukhnov axis.

[4] The division moved to concentrate in the area of Ozerna and Subbotino, 1 km north of Davydovo and joined the resumed offensive on January 16.

During the next day it was fighting along the western bank of the Ugra River, attacking in the direction of Malaya Rudnya with its main forces, while a detachment was simultaneously blocking Sabelnikovo from the north and east.

By January 18 the 173rd and 238th Rifle Divisions were attacking to outflank the line and cut off the defenders' retreat to the west and the 12th Guards completed its concentration before advancing in the direction of Pogorelovo.

On January 20 the division was transferred to the 10th Army and moved to the Sukhinichi region for operations against German forces attacking from the Zhizdra-Zikeevo area.

On March 26 General Siyazov was appointed as deputy commander of 5th Army and handed the division to Maj. Gen. Konstantin Maksimovich Erastov.

Meanwhile the commander of 61st Army, Lt. Gen. P. A. Belov, planned to lead his attack with the 12th Guards supported by the 68th Tank Brigade once again against the defenses of 112th Infantry about 18km north of Bolkhov.

Bryansk Front acknowledged the failure on this sector and ordered Belov to transfer the three divisions to the 3rd Army to reinforce its bridgehead on the west bank of the Oka River.

The Front command reported to the STAVKA on March 6, among other items, that "The 61st Army fought stubborn battles during the day with units of the 12th Guards Rifle Division against enemy forces attacking in the Sivkovo and Gorodishche sector.

The Soviet offensive against the German-held salient centered on the city of Oryol began with limited, local reconnaissance thrusts on July 11 with the full assault beginning the next day, just as Hitler was deciding to shut down Operation Citadel.

On the same day Gen. W. Model gave the order for his combined 2nd Panzer and 9th Armies to prepare to withdraw to the Hagen position at the base of the salient.

[16] In preparation for the Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive Central Front underwent a major regrouping from October 8–14, during which 9th Guards Corps was fully concentrated in the bridgehead.

Heavy fighting raged for more than a week, prompting German 2nd Army to order its Group Lubbe to begin a phased withdrawal to new positions in the rear.

The assault split apart the German 216th and 102nd Infantry Divisions and opened an immense gap in their defenses that allowed lead elements to reach Dubrovitsa on the Rechitsa–Khoiniki road by day's end.

The ensuing withdrawal lasted six days during which the two Soviet rifle corps and supporting units made spectacular progress, swinging southward and then westward through the Sholb Swamp and reaching as far as 45km east of Mazyr.

The forward edge of the Germans' defenses, which extended 200-300 meters east of the Osipova Rudnia and Aleksandrovka road, were covered with barbed wire obstacles and, in some sectors, antitank and antipersonnel minefields.

[24] At the insistence of Belov, Colonel Malkov had deployed his division in a single echelon with all three rifle regiments in line, leaving him with very few reserves.

Malkov wrote:Despite launching attacks both during the day and at night, from 8 through 11 January, the corps' formations were not able to penetrate the enemy's defenses.

The subunits of these divisions turned out to be in flat, open and swampy terrain, where there was no cover... Several times each day... Belov... demanded insistently that our troops penetrate the enemy's defense and capture Kalinkovichi at all cost.

After 15–20 minutes the main forces of the divisions went into the attack, by which time the 12 Guards' ski battalion was already 2km deep and had cut the road from Buda and Kalinkavichy.

The 12th Guards divisional history states:Units of the division entered battle northwest of Kalinkovichi on 20 January and, after smashing enemy resistance, began a slow but persistent advance forward.

The main part of offensive against Army Group Center began on June 23, but the left flank forces of 1st Belorussian Front did not enter the fighting until early July.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Pinsk, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 14 July 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

Over the next four days of heavy fighting the Corps managed to advance from 16–20 km due west and there appeared to be a developing opportunity to encircle the German Brest grouping.

On July 25 and 26 the Corps continued advancing slowly while repelling counterattacks while 70th Army's right flank broke through the first positions of the Brest fortified area.

By the end of July 27 the Corps was on a line from Zadworce to Wulka-Zastavska and Brest was encircled while the German force was seeking at any price to break out.

When the offensive began at 0855 hours on January 14, 1945 after a 25-minute artillery preparation the Army's forward battalions were halted by German fire in front of the switch position along the line of the Pilica and could not force a crossing.

[43] On January 26 the commander of 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal G. K. Zhukov, reported to the STAVKA on his plans to develop the offensive and to force the Oder River.