The division was formed as Red Army national unit on 3 August 1941 in Gorokhovets, Vladimir Oblast, Moscow Military District from remains of the 24th Territorial Rifle Corps.

In addition to the much depleted 76th regiment (about 1200 troops), were added 2500 Latvian speaking members of the state militia (police) and NKVD, as well as the predominantly Latvian speaking 582nd Construction Battalion, and members of the 24th Corps which was the territorial reserve formation in Latvia which failed to form due to rapid German advance.

[citation needed] The first combat the division experienced was during the counter-offensive at Moscow in the areas of Naro-Fominsk and Borovsk where it suffered 55% casualties.

[3] Border detachments of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (the NKVD) had been resisting the Finnish advance from June 22, 1941.

The 201st Rifle Division was formed in accordance with the directive of the commander of the Leningrad Front, General of the Army L.A. Govorov No.

Following the relief of the siege the division incorporated several partisan detachments and groups which were used to strengthen the reconnaissance and ski equipped units.

In February the division was transferred to the 117th Rifle Corps, and soon after was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the capturing of Luga.

In June 1944 the division was serving with the 8th Army before moving to participate in the assault on Narva, for which the 191st regiment was awarded the honorific Narvsky.

From March 1945 the division was in the 1st Rifle Corps of the 1st Shock Army of the Kurland Group (Leningrad Front).

The division used BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-60 and BTR-70 armoured personnel carriers, T-62 tanks and Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled guns.

However, in 1995, Islamist insurgents assaulted one of the bases of the 201st in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and ambushed a convoy near Kalashum, 200 km east of Dushanbe.

On April 19, the 201st launched an offensive into Gorno-Badach and advanced 20 kilometres, forcing the Islamists out of several bases.

In 1996 the division's sapper battalion participated in border region mine clearance operations with Tajikistan forces.

On 13 August 2003 the 201st Motor Rifle Division participated in a joint exercise with the Tajik military 10 km southwest of Dushanbe at the Lyaur testing ground.

At one point during the civil war in Tajikistan, soldiers of the 201st Motor Rifle Division safely escorted staff of the US Embassy in Dushanbe to the airport for evacuation.

This marks the only time in history that Americans have officially asked for and been given protection by the Russian military.

[4] In October 2012, it was signed an agreement extending the term of deployment of the Russian military base in Tajikistan until 2042.

[10] Within the planned rearmament, about 100 units of new equipment, mostly the BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, as well as more than 10 T-72B1 tanks, have been delivered to the 201st Military Base in 2016, as well as a Borisoglebsk-2 EW system and a Garmony air defence radar plus Silok anti-drone EW complexes delivered in 2018.

[18] 14 vehicles, including 8 modernized BMP-2Ms IFVs, were delivered in March 2020 and two Mi-8MTV5-1 combat transport helicopters in September 2020.

[23][24] NSV Utes heavy machine guns entered service with the base in September 2021 and Aistenok reconnaissance and fire control systems in November.

Reportedly, soldiers on base and local civilians noticed the drop in presence from the unit's personnel, further indicating this claim.