It was still in this Army in August when the Front's forces finally broke across the Donets River and advanced into the Donbas, during which the division was awarded a battle honor in early September.

Following this success it advanced into the Balkans where it joined the 37th Army in December, which served as a separate occupation force for the duration of the war.

The 259th Rifle Division began forming just over two weeks after the start of the German invasion on July 5, 1941, at Serpukhov, in the Moscow Military District.

Following the Staraya Russa fighting the commander of Army Group North, Field Marshal W. J. F. von Leeb, resolved to ensure that his right flank was secure before beginning the final push on Leningrad.

Demyansk was taken in early September, but by now the LVI Motorized Corps was in an absurd position at the end of a single 90 km-long dirt road through swamps back to the railhead at Staraya Russa.

[14] In late November the 52nd, 4th and 54th Armies faced a German force of 10 infantry, two motorized and two panzer divisions deployed between Lakes Ladoga and Ilmen.

General Klykov again mishandled his force, failing to concentrate and making fruitless frontal attacks with inadequate artillery support against the positions of the 126th Infantry Division.

From the start, the attackers suffered from acute and persistent ammunition and fuel shortages, unavailability of reserves necessary to exploit success, and poor command, control and communications.

The two Armies attempted to penetrate the German defenses along the Volkhov, but the fire was so heavy that 2nd Shock alone lost more than 3,000 men in the first 30 minutes of its assault.

Stalin's solution, in part, was to send his special emissary, Army-Commissar 1st Rank L. Z. Mekhlis, to supervise Meretskov's attack preparations.

Although he was feared and loathed, his role was not altogether negative:For example, when he learned that the attacking armies were without artillery and that the available guns lacked vital parts, including optical instruments and communications equipment, Mekhlis informed Stalin.

In the 2nd Shock's sector the artillery preparation and subsequent ground assault shattered German defenses at the junction of the XXXVIII Army Corps' 126th and 215th Infantry Divisions, producing panic in the former.

In heavy fighting during January 13–16, Klykov's forces managed to carve small wedges in the German defenses west of the Volkhov and Tigoda Rivers.

On January 21, after a four-day halt for regrouping, 2nd Shock resumed its struggle, this time focusing on capturing the German strongpoints at Spasskaya Polist, Mostky, Zemtitsy, and Miasnoi Bor at the base of the shallow penetration.

[27] By this time the spring rasputitsa had set in, what roads existed became impassable for vehicles, the supply routes through the gap were underwater, and 2nd Shock was running short of ammunition, fuel and food.

[29] In the event, this tentative date was not met, and on May 12 Khozin notified the STAVKA that Group Wendel was being reinforced, which he took as firm evidence that another attempt to cut the corridor was in the offing.

Heavy, chaotic, but mostly futile combat raged for several days as the ragged remnants of 2nd Shock Army, in large and small groups, tried desperately to reach Volkhov Front's lines.

The latter succeeded in reaching the river's east bank but the former faltered and then failed, with German counterattacks penetrating 2nd Shock's positions and seizing several villages.

In early July Soviet intelligence reported a buildup of German forces in the Sinyavino and Chudovo regions, apparently in preparation for a new drive on Volkhov.

When the offensive preparations were complete the Soviet forces outnumbered the opposing Germans by a factor of better than four to one on 8th Army's 15 km-wide penetration sector.

During the days following the remnants of the two armies escaped, although fighting persisted until October 15 as the German forces restored their previous front.

At 0300 hours on February 21 the Front commander, Army Gen. N. F. Vatutin, reported that 14th Corps had "conducted prolonged offensive fighting and, after destroying up to two companies of enemy infantry, advanced and captured Khartsizskaia, Karakash Shakhtaia, and Piatikhatka.

[50] Southwestern and Southern Fronts began an offensive on July 17 to force the Donets and Mius Rivers against 1st Panzer and 6th Armies, but this made little progress and was abandoned on August 2.

Southwestern Front struck 1st Panzer south of Izium, as it had in July, and again the German positions held, although at considerable cost in casualties.

As the German forces retreated toward Stalino the 259th won a battle honor for its general success in the advance:ARTYOMOVSK... 259th Rifle Division (Colonel Vlasenko, Aleksei Mitrofanovich)...

Malinovsky met his deadline with time to spare as 1st Panzer Army's forces abandoned Zaporizhzhia, destroying the dam and the railway bridge as they withdrew to the west bank.

[55] A cold wave in the first week of January, 1944 firmed up the ground enough for the 4th and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts to begin moving against the remaining German positions in the Dniepr bend.

In this effort the 259th and 266th Divisions seized meagre footholds near Olănești but the flooded ground on the east bank hindered and sometimes totally prevented the forward movement of heavy weapons, equipment and ammunition.

In order to prevent Axis forces from carrying out an organized withdrawal all the Soviet armies were directed to conduct combat operations by night as well as day.

On August 24 most Romanian units ceased to offer resistance, and 34th Corps was tasked with mopping up the encirclement while the remainder of the Army began to exploit into Bulgaria.