The 270th began forming on 10 July 1941 at Melitopol, part of the Odessa Military District, under the command of Colonel Zaki Kutlin.

Formed from militia and reservists east of the Dnieper bend in about a month, the division was assigned to the Southern Front's 12th Army by late August.

At the end of the month, the division helped capture the critical rail junction at Lozovaya.

The group was to advance to the west and southwest, capturing the line of Sofievka, Tarasovka, and Andreyevka by the end of the fourth day of the offensive, and reach the line of Kegichevka, Dar Nadezhdy, Sakhnovshchina, and Lukashevka by the end of the seventh day.

[4] The German attack in the Second Battle of Kharkov trapped Soviet forces in this bulge, which became known as the Izyum pocket.

On 18 November, when it completed its formation, the remainder of the 270th moved up to defend positions on the left bank of the Don.

[7] The division defended positions along the Don River at Babki, Donskoye, Pavlovsk, Russkaya, Kazinka, Nizhny Karabut, and Verkhny Mamon.

[8] The division fought in the Third Battle of Kharkov, advancing on Poltava, and Colonel Ivan Belyayev took command on 26 February, replacing Polyatkov.

[10] In the fall, the division advanced westwards into Belarus, fighting northeast of Vitebsk from October.

[9] In December, the division began blockading German troops trapped in the Courland Pocket on the Baltic coast.

On 17 April, the corps transferred to the 4th Shock Army, still in the Courland Group of Forces,[6] defending positions southeast of Libau until the end of the war.

[13] In September 1954, the division participated in the Totskoye range nuclear tests and exercises as the defending side.