The division was built up in Münsingen and was formally part of the Ersatzheer, the reserve army of the Wehrmacht, during the build-up period.

On 28 January 1945, when construction was completed, the command was handed over to the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR), which was granted the status of ally.

Here, Bunyachenko was approached by representatives of the Czech resistance, who prepared an uprising in Prague to expel the Germans from the city.

Although thanks to the Russians most of the city could be freed, their help aroused the anger of the Czech Communists, who demanded that they surrender to the Red Army.

The division finally tried to surrender to the Americans, who, in spite of international law, extradited the Russians to the Soviet Union, where the soldiers ended up in Gulag camps.