Moved to the front soon after, it helped defend the Soviet lines west of the Ukrainian capital for more than a month, but was then destroyed in the encirclement of Kiev.

In September it was redeployed, and played a leading role in defending the northern part of the central city and Mamayev Kurgan hill in the Battle of Stalingrad, and later in the reduction of the trapped German 6th Army during Operation Ring, for which it was raised to Guards status as the 79th Guards Rifle Division shortly after the battle ended.

On July 3 they came under further attack from 9th Panzer Division, which elected to bypass to the south of the position, forcing the Soviet units to withdraw northeastwards to avoid encirclement.

The commissar went on to urgently request vehicles (including ambulances, of which there were none), small arms and support weapons, draught horses, and a closer supply base.

After the first day of fighting Tkachenko further reported that the lack of high-explosive shells forced the artillery to fire armor-piercing rounds at enemy firing points and troops; there were no cartridges for the submachine guns; many of the men's uniforms and footwear were worn out; and it was impossible to commit the replacements into the fighting because of the lack of weapons.

On July 21 the division, stretched over a wide sector and with no armor support, made no progress at all, and was accused by the commander of the 340th of failing to attack.

General Chibisov decided to solve the problem by committing his fresh reserve 237th Rifle Division, backed by the 201st Tank Brigade, into the gap.

Colonel Batyuk, watching the armor deploying from a distance, noted its openly intimidating nature, observing, "All of the enemy's actions were designed to affect morale."

He further reported:"At 0800 the 237th Rifle Division, without offering any resistance [underlined in original text], was fleeing in the direction of Kamenka, completely exposing the left flank and rear of the 284th... and made no attempts to regain its lines or to render fire support.

[13] A large number of the needed replacements were recruited locally, but the division also received several thousand sailors from the Pacific Fleet.

On September 17 the division was assigned to 62nd Army and began arriving on the east bank, its first elements crossing the Volga in the early morning of the 21st.

Although the division was back up to a strength of about 10,000 men, it was still lacking weapons, and on arrival only the 1043rd Rifle Regiment was completely equipped, so it was the first to cross.

It was briefly held in reserve, before moving forward to relieve the exhausted troops of the 112th Rifle Division from Mamayev Kurgan to the Krutoi Ravine.

On September 22, two regiments of the German 295th Infantry Division pierced the defenses of the 112th and reached the west bank of the Volga at several points "after difficult fighting."

It was deployed as follows: "1047th Rifle Regiment is along the northern bank of the Krutoi Ravine, with its right flank anchored on the line of the railroad to Artemovskaia Street.

The division would remain in this general area, between the central city core and the main factory district, for the remainder of the battle.

On October 3 a renewed attack by the 295th Infantry drove the forces of the 95th and 284th off the north slope of the hill and back through the Military Clothing Factory to positions on the south bank of the Bannyi Ravine.

For several days a lull in the fighting set in, and on October 9 the 284th was ordered to occupy the sector held by two regiments of the 95th so they could be redeployed to the factory district.

[18] During October, a senior sergeant of the 2nd Battalion, 1047th Rifle Regiment, Vasili Grigorievich Zaitsev, was brought to Colonel Batyuk's attention.

Zaitsev was one of the replacements transferred from the Pacific Fleet in August and was gaining a reputation as a highly effective sharpshooter with the standard Mosin–Nagant rifle.

Chuikov had to build a counterattack force from staff and rear services, 30 men recently discharged from aid stations, and three patched-up tanks to retake lost ground.

On the same day, two battalions of the 92nd Rifle Brigade crossed the Volga into the 284th's sector to join the 1043rd Regiment in second echelon; Chuikov feared a major German attack on the Chemical Factory, which never occurred.

On November 21, the 1047th and 1045th Regiments, supported by part of the 92nd Rifle Brigade, launched an attack at 1400 which retook the crest of Mamayev Kurgan from 100th Jäger Division.

On November 29 the 284th lost 105 men killed or wounded in similar efforts; furthermore the 62nd Army was suffering severe shortages of supplies due to the partly-frozen Volga, and on the 30th it was finally ordered to go over to the defense.

Also during this period Chuikov redeployed the 348th MG-Artillery Battalion of the 156th Fortified Region into the city along the Dolgii Ravine between the 284th and 13th Guards; this allowed Batyuk's troops to consolidate on a shorter line.

When Ring began on January 10 the division's specific mission was to attack with all three rifle regiments abreast to take Mamayev Kurgan and destroy the enemy units there.

The 284th and 13th Guards were carefully briefed with recognition signals and radio call signs to secure a smooth link-up with 21st Army, which came at 1100 on the 284th's sector.

An advance of more than a kilometre broke the back of the 295th's defenses and penetrated to the northern edge of 9th January Square and the western end of Solnechnaia Street.

General Chuikov acknowledged the performance of the 284th as among the best in his Army,[29] and also had rough praise for Batyuk:"To be honest, most of the divisional commanders didn't really want to die in Stalingrad.

[30]Following the surrender of 6th Army, on February 8 the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for "exemplary fulfillment of command tasks" and its "valor and courage".