This division began forming in March-April 1941 in the Kiev Special Military District as part of the 19th Mechanized Corps.
Once formed its order of battle was as follows: The 132nd had only one battalion of 42 T-26 tanks and while the 301st was equipped with a company of 13 T-37 tankettes it had no armored cars or motorcycles.
[4] At this time the division was at close to full strength in manpower, with 10,021 personnel assigned, but had only 140 trucks of all types on hand, making it "motorized" in name only.
By this time it had been detached to Operational Group Lukin which was protecting a large Red Army supply base at Shepetivka.
The 213th Rifle Division began forming on 15 December 1941 at Kattakurgan, assigned to the Central Asian Military District.
At the end of March, its units fought in fierce offensive battles to seize the railway station of Kreyda, then in April and May, as part of the 25th Guards Rifle Corps of the army, defended the line of the Seversky Donets near Belgorod.
After advancing through Romania in August and September of that year, the 52nd Army transferred to the RVGK and was moved north to join the 1st Ukrainian Front by November.