After the Soviet encirclement in the Battle of Kiev, the 1st Panzer Group advanced south into the front's northern flank in the rear of the 12th Army.

The division, which had never received its full complement of artillery or anti-tank weapons, suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat.

In the third phase of Operation Suvorov 31st Army attacked the positions of the 18th Panzergrenadier Division 12 km east of Yartsevo on the morning of 15 September.

Three days later the 274th, led by Lt. Col. Pyotr Dodogorsky's 961st Rifle Regiment, formed the vanguard in 31st Army's battle for the city, which was secured by 19 September.

[4] The division received the honorifics "Yartsevo Red Banner Order of Suvorov" for its actions, and was disbanded in the summer of 1945 with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.