[3] In August 1939, the brigade was transferred to the reserve of the 1st Army Group, fighting in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol with Japanese troops.

By 18 August, it concentrated in the Khamar-Daba area, part of Army Group commander Georgy Zhukov's mobile reserve force.

[4] On 20 August, alongside the units of the 6th Light Tank and 9th Armored Motor Brigades, it advanced into the area of Lake Uzur-Nur, defeating Japanese troops there.

[14] A squad leader of the 212th, Sergeant Yakov Vatomov, became one of the first airborne Heroes of the Soviet Union of the war for leading his platoon in an attack.

[15] The brigade was temporarily detached to the Kiev Fortified Region for the defense, and on 21 August, when the troops defending the city in the northern sector began retreating to the Dnieper, it was pulled out and rejoined the corps in the Vortnichi Forest near Brovary.

For actions in early September, rifleman Red Army man Nikolay Obukhov was also made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

[17] German troops crossed the river on 9 September under cover of a five-hour long artillery and aerial bombardment.

[19] Later that month, in the North Caucasus Military District at Yeysk and later Yessentuki, the 3rd Airborne Corps was reformed, including the 212th Brigade.