Its full title is 8th Guards Rezhitskaya Motorized Rifle Division Named after Hero of the Soviet Union Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner and Suvorov.

Intense fighting against the Germans had already taken place in the region, as part of the campaign to defend Leningrad from the attack of Army Group North.

It was assigned to Konstantin Rokossovsky's 16th Army (Western Front), and ordered to defend a 41-km long sector along the Ruza River, especially the highway passing through Volokolamsk.

Soviet newspapers later reported that twenty-eight soldiers from the division's 1075th Regiment destroyed eighteen enemy tanks while fighting to the last; although the story gained wide publicity, it was later revealed to be exaggerated.

Although they were forced to retreat after three days, the German advance ceased due to the Soviets' resistance and the harsh weather conditions.

[6] On 17 November, Joseph Stalin as People's Commissar of Defense passed a decree to promote the 316th to a Guards formation, in recognition of the role it played in defending the capital; it sustained 9,920 casualties, including 3,620 soldiers killed in action and 6,300 wounded.

Marshal Dmitry Yazov, who researched the division's history, wrote that it considerably delayed the enemy's march on Moscow in its sector.

The decree came into effect on that very day, turning the 316th to the 8th Guards Rifle Division; it also received the Order of the Red Banner.

[10] In late 1942, the 30th Guards Rifle Regiment fought as a separate unit in the Battle of Velikiye Luki near the Lovat River.

In 1944, it took part in the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive and later, in the battle of Rēzekne; for its role in taking the city and the surrounding region, it was awarded the honorary title Rezhitskaya on 27 July 1944.

[17] On 11 July 2011, on the eve of the division's 70th anniversary, the 8th Guards was re-established in a ceremony attended by President Roza Otunbayeva and Defence Minister Abibilla Kudayberdiev.

Drawing from the memories of Major Baurzhan Momyshuly, he authored a book, Volokolamsk Highway (known also as Panfilov's Men), about the fighting near the city.

The trilogy described the experiences of Momyshuly as a battalion commander, from the formation of the division in Alma Ata until the Soviet counter-offensive in Moscow.