It spent much of the next twelve months in the same general area, west of the capital, taking part in the mostly futile battles against the German-held salient at Rzhev.

The formation of the 331st Rifle Division began on August 27, 1941, in the Tambov Oblast of the Oryol Military District, under the command of Maj. Gen. Fyodor Petrovich Korol.

As November moved into December, the 331st, fighting in the area of the Moscow-Volga canal, stopped the enemy advance at Lobnia Station, 25 km from Moscow.

[3] On December 2, as one of the harbingers of the wider counter-offensive that started a few days later, the division took part in a strong counter-attack from the area of Khlebnikovo towards Krasnaia Poliana.

Backed by tanks and artillery, the attack made limited gains, but on the 6th it merged with the general offensive, broke into the village with the help of 28th Rifle Brigade, secured it,[4] and took a German 210mm gun, which had been used to shell Moscow, as a trophy.

Beginning at 1400 the division, backed by 64th Rifle Brigade, waged an unsuccessful fight against two enemy battalions in a wooded stronghold east of Aksenovo.

Alongside the 247th Rifle Division, and supported by the 80th and 240th Tank Brigades, the 331st was tasked to cross the mostly-frozen Vazuza River between Trostino and Pechora, to take German strong points at Zevalovka and Prudy.

In the event, on November 25, the division successfully forced the river line and took Prudy, but was halted by heavy fire from Khlepen.

The tanks and cavalry of the reserve managed to tear a hole in the defenses and get into the enemy rear, but the infantry found it impossible to follow.

During the third phase of Operation Suvorov at 2200 hours on September 24 the 31st Army, led by the 331st, 215th and 133rd Rifle Divisions, began an unusual night assault to break into Smolensk just as it was being evacuated by the bulk of the German forces, which blew up all three bridges across the Dniepr in the process.

Prokofii Fyodorovich Klepach, crossed to the south bank of the river and hoisted the Red Banner from the roof of the Smolensk Hotel, one of the few major buildings that avoided German demolitions.

The troops who participated in the battles of Smolensk and Roslavl, by the order of the Supreme High Command of September 25, 1943, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvoes from 224 guns.

The Army commander, Lt. Gen. V. A. Gluzdovskii, deployed his 71st Corps astride the Smolensk - Orsha highway and the railroad north of the Dniepr River, advancing against the defenses of 197th Infantry Division.

During three days of heavy fighting the Corps' assault stalled in front of strong defenses which had been reinforced by the 18th Panzer Grenadier Division.

However, 36th Rifle Corps managed to unhinge the German defenses north of the highway, and by October 9 the 197th Infantry began falling back, reaching a line from Shcheki on the Verkhita River southward to Novaia on the Dniepr by the 11th.

The assault went in after an 85-minute artillery preparation, but over two days of fighting the 331st, along with the rest of its Army, was stalled without making any significant gains, while suffering serious losses.

A third attempt began on October 21, with all three Corps of 31st Army conducting a frontal assault with massed infantry backed by scattered tanks, following an intense artillery preparation; in this effort the 331st was in the second echelon.

[27] In recognition of his successful command of the division in this operation, Major General Berestov would be awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on June 27, 1945.

By January 23–24, the 331st had joined in pursuit of the retreating German forces, and along with its corps helped capture the important road junction of Blenkheim, and the strongpoint of Treuburg on the approaches to Lötzen.

The 331st captured the rail junction of Landsberg from the march, and Berestov ordered the division northward, unaware that it was coming into the path of a powerful German counterstrike to hold open a land link to the rest of Germany.

Meanwhile, the German columns led by Waffen SS troops bypassed the town to the south and north, leaving the fighting elements of the division encircled for two days until they were relieved from outside.

Meanwhile, the southern German column had rampaged through the mostly-defenseless rear elements of the division, destroying the medical-sanitation battalion, the motor pool, and other units; in total more than 300 men and women were killed and more wounded.

[32] Beginning at noon the next day, following a powerful artillery preparation, the 3rd Belorussian Front, including the 331st, began its assault on the fortifications of Königsberg.

[33] In late April, the division loaded onto troop trains for a trip to the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia along with the rest of the 31st Army, which was transferring to the 1st Ukrainian Front for the final push to Prague.

The army's role was as a flank guard on the left of the 1st Ukrainian Front, protecting the northern prong of the attack on the Czech capital.