From 20 September to 9 November, the division conducted operations as part of the 54th Army of the Leningrad Front in the area of Mga and Sinyavino.

From 15 November to 28 December, the division conducted combat operations near Volkhov and then pursued the retreating German troops to the station of Pogostye.

In winter conditions, the division completed a difficult forced march of 200 to 280 kilometers from the railway station to the concentration areas.

During the Stalingrad strategic offensive, on the line of the Myshkova River, the division, as a part of the 2nd Guards Army, played a decisive role in the repulse of the counterattack of the German Kotelnikovo group.

Continuing the offensive toward Rostov, the division participated in the liberation of Novocherkassk on 13 February 1943, and three days later reached the Mius River, where German resistance forced them to take defensive positions.

In late September, during the Melitopol Offensive, the 3rd Guards reached the lower Dnieper and the Black Sea coast, liberating Kakhovka on 2 November 1943.

In December, as a part of the 4th Ukrainian Front, the division eliminated the German bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper (in the area of Kherson) after a stubborn battle.

In February 1944, the army was transferred to the area of the Isthmus of Perekop, and in April–May it took part in the Crimean strategic operation, resulting in the liberation of Yevpatoriya on 13 April 1944, and, together with other forces of the 4th Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol on 9 May.