The 357th Rifle Division began forming in August 1941 in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Ural Military District.

[3] Its order of battle was as follows: On the first day of September Colonel Dmitry Kirshev was assigned to command of the division, a post he would hold until February 14 1942.

During the rest of the winter the 39th Army was tasked with driving westwards to encircle and destroy these enemy forces in conjunction with Western Front attacking from the east.

On July 6 the corridor from Kalinin Front to its besieged 39th and 22nd Armies was cut at the village of Pushkari, north of Belyi, which encircled the 357th along with several others.

Over the following weeks individuals, small groups, and even some formed and armed subunits managed to make their way through the encirclement lines, but despite this 39th Army reported 582 killed, 269 wounded and the enormous total of 22,749 missing in action in the month of July.

[7] While enough of the division survived this ordeal to avoid being disbanded, by August 1 its remnants were in the Moscow Military District for rebuilding, which went on into September.

[9] On October 13 Kalinin Front received orders that several formations would be transferred to its command, in the buildup to the forthcoming Operation Mars.

On the eve of the offensive, forward detachments of all three divisions crossed the Lovat, suppressed the German advanced positions along the west bank, and then advanced to their main line along the Nevel railway; this reconnaissance-in-force both revealed much of the enemy fire plan and put artillery observers in position to direct fire against it in the opening preparation.

Later in the day, Katyusha rocket volleys suppressed the German fire enough that the 357th was able to enter Gorushka, while the 9th Guards seized height 158.1.

[16] While the Guards divisions created an outer encirclement of Velikiye Luki, the 357th moved as planned to cut the road and railroad immediately west of the city, beginning an inner encirclement, while still facing resistance from elements of the 251st and 257th Infantry Regiments of the 83rd Infantry Division, backed by rocket artillery and some armor.

Colonel Kronik was able to report that his troops had reached the Velikiye Luki - Novosokolniki road, sealed the Vorobetzkaya exit, and was attacking height 164.9.

[17] It was clear to the Soviet command that the Germans would soon attempt to relieve the besieged city, which lay about 15km from their lines, by first breaking through to the Shiripino group (holding a pocket about 4 - 4.5km in length) before covering the remaining distance.

However, just as the artillery preparation was to begin, word arrived that the expected German relief attempt had begun; the lines of the 508th Guards Rifle Regiment had been penetrated and by morning the attackers reached the pocket, but the Soviet commanders on the ground organized counterattacks to prevent any further advance.

Although the German command was successful in evacuating some of its encircled troops, it was unable to hold its ground, and when the lines stabilized the distance to Velikiye Luki had barely lessened.

[18] In anticipation of a further German effort to relieve Velikiye Luki, the 357th was transferred to the direct command of 3rd Shock Army on December 10.

The encircled troops were reliant entirely on air-dropped supplies, and as the new year began were hanging on in the old fortress (Kreml) west of the river and in and around the railway station east of it.

[23] Later in October the division was reassigned to the 60th Rifle Corps in 4th Shock Army,[5][24] in the renamed 1st Baltic (former Kalinin) Front.

60th Rifle Corps, backed by the 143rd Tank Brigade formed 4th Shock's assault group, facing the German 87th Infantry Division and (a sign of their tremendous shortage of manpower) the partly reorganized 2nd Luftwaffe on a 10km-wide sector 16km south of Nevel.

By the end of the month the 357th had advanced with its Corps as much as 90km and had liberated more than 500 villages, while Hitler raged in his headquarters about the Schweinerei (filthy mess) around Nevel and ordered several attempts to seal off the breakthrough, none of which succeeded.

However, 60th Corps remained 26km short of Polotsk, facing Combat Group von Gottberg (several composite battalions) and the 211th Infantry Division.

[26][27] While most of the forces of 1st Baltic Front battled for Gorodok in December, and later attempted to liberate Vitebsk into January and February 1944, the 357th, with most of 60th Corps, remained on the defense along the same line.

[28] In June the division was reassigned to the 1st Rifle Corps in 43rd Army, still in 1st Baltic Front,[5] and was in positions north of the German salient at Vitebsk.

[5] The 357th ended the war with the full title of 357th Rifle, Order of Suvorov Division (Russian: 357-я стрелковая ордена Суворова дивизия).

About the end of September and October 1945, the division arrived at Ashgabat in the Turkestan Military District with the 1st Rifle Corps.

[33] By the early 2000s the 209th had become the 2nd Training Motor Rifle Division named for Alp Arslan at Tejen in the Ahal Region).

[39] In August 2020, a Turkmen court sentenced Jehovah's Witness siblings to two years in prison for conscientious objection to military service in the division.