It originally served in the Stalingrad Group of Forces, mopping up in the ruins of that city after the Axis surrender there before eventually being assigned to the 4th Guards Army and moving north to the Kursk area in the Steppe Military District.

It entered combat with its Army during the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive in August and continued fighting toward the Dniepr River and Kiev during the autumn and early winter.

While rebuilding its antitank battalion had its towed pieces replaced with self-propelled guns and at the beginning of November the entire division was temporarily motorized to take part in an unsuccessful attempt to seize the city of Budapest via a mechanized thrust.

[5] Following the defeat of the German Zitadelle offensive the 4th Guards Army, under command of Lt. Gen. G. I. Kulik and still in reserve, was concentrating in the area of Chernyanka, Orlik and Loznoe on July 23.

On September 23 the Army commander, Col. Gen. K. S. Moskalenko, wrote to his 47th and 52nd Corps: "The Dnepr River must be forced in the most favorable places, without regard for boundary lines and available crossing equipment."

On the same day units of the 52nd Corps, including the division, began crossing northwest and southeast of Rzhyshchiv near Staiki, Grebeni and Shchuchinka but only with infantry and at a slow pace.

German counterattacks followed on October 2 and by the 5th the northwest bridgehead had been effectively abandoned while the 68th Guards was pushed back somewhat in the southeastern lodgement near Shchuchinka.

The Soviet forces prepared to go back to the offensive but were hampered by the ongoing shortage of crossing means and therefore ammunition and heavy equipment; as of October 10 the Shchuchinka bridgehead had just one eight-tonne and one 30-tonne ferry available and a bridge was under construction.

The 68th Guards attacked from Shchuchinka but despite this support and airstrikes by 2nd Air Army the German forces put up stubborn resistance, in large part because reconnaissance of their defenses and fire systems had been inadequate.

[12] During this fighting General Isakov was seriously wounded and evacuated to hospital; following his recovery he was sent to the Voroshilov Academy from which he graduated in September, 1944 before taking command of the 18th Guards Rifle Division.

The fighting continued into November 5 and achieved little more than drawing the 2nd SS out of reserve but by the next day it was clear that Kiev was about to be liberated from Lyutezh and the 40th and 27th Armies were ordered to maintain the impression of a coming attack with false troop concentrations and dummy tanks.

Vatutin issued new orders on November 23 to renew the offensive two days later, but when the deadline arrived his armies, including the 38th, were not ready to attack due to ammunition shortages and the fact that regrouping had not been completed.

The troops who participated in the liberation of Proskurov, by the order of the Supreme High Command of March 25, 1944, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 12 artillery salvoes from 124 guns.

By this time the Army's lead forces had wedged to a depth of 14–16 km into the German defenses and the following morning the 3rd Guards Tank was committed into the breach.

[23] The division reached the pre-war border on July 29, crossed the Wisłok River into Poland and soon entered the city of Rzeszów, which was already largely in the hands of the Home Army.

[24] During September the division continued advancing west under the same headquarters but was then withdrawn into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command with its Corps and joined the rebuilding 6th Army.

On October 10 Maj. Gen. Ivan Mikhailovich Nekrasov took command of the division and he would remain in this post for the duration of the war; this officer had been made a Hero of the Soviet Union in September, 1941 following the Yelnya Offensive.

The combined task group was ordered to attack in the direction of Izsák and Kunszentmiklós and by the morning of the next day reach the area from Alsónémedi to Szigetszentmiklós to Szigetcsép with the intention of capturing Budapest from the march in cooperation with the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps.

The German high command, seeing the threat to the Hungarian capital, began to hurriedly transfer the III Panzer Corps from the Miskolc axis to counter it.

On November 3 the 15th Mechanized Brigade broke into Kussuthfalva, immediately south of the city, but under heavy pressure from Axis infantry, artillery and tanks was forced to fall back.

This effectively ended the effort to take Budapest by a coup de main and by late on November 5 the entire breakthrough force was being heavily counterattacked.

[33][34] On the same day encircled elements of the 18th Tank and 133rd Rifle Corps made a fighting breakout to the area northwest of Dunapentele and joined the defensive line.

The troops who participated in the capture of Budapest, by the order of the Supreme High Command of February 13, 1945, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 24 artillery salvoes from 324 guns.

[37] Following the defeat of Operation Spring Awakening in March the 26th Army took part in the Vienna Offensive and the division ended the war in eastern Austria.