At the beginning of July 1943 it was in Steppe Front and in the latter part of the Battle of Kursk it was brought forward to help defend the Red Army's positions around Prokhorovka.

[4] By July 10 it was clear to both sides that the German plan for Operation Zitadelle had largely failed; the attack by 9th Army on the north flank of the salient had stalled after minor gains.

[5] However, during the approach march the situation had changed, largely due to the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf having seized a bridgehead over the Psyol River near Klyuchi from the 52nd Guards late on the 10th, and plans for a counterattack were postponed.

By 1030 lead elements of the latter regiment had seized part of an antitank ditch and began to assault toward Hill 252.2 supported by further air attacks on that point as well as the nearby Oktiabrskii State Farm.

In addition an attack by a large group of Il-2 aircraft near the sector held by the 1st Battalion of the 287th Guards Regiment knocked out some 20 armored vehicles late in the day and forced the remainder back to the State Farm.

Shortly before, at around 1730 hours a company of the 3rd SS with 12 tanks had tried to force a crossing of the Psyol at Krasnyi Oktiabr as a diversion, but this was beaten back by a counterattack from the 290th Guards Rifle Regiment.

He initially proposed to launch the tank attack through the positions of the 95th Guards in the bend of the Psyol, but rejected this due to the steep river banks, swampy bottom lands made worse by recent rains, and a lack of sufficient crossing points.

By nightfall units of the division had been pushed back, the 3rd SS had reached Hill 236.7 and captured the village of Polezhaev with part of its forces, but was unable to advance farther.

The platoon was defending one of the low hills southwest of Polezhaev and managed to knock out up to six German vehicles, but the fight was unequal in part due to ammunition shortages affecting the entire division.

Open general fire on the enemy tanks at 1810 today at the signal - a series of red flares, launched by the 95th Guards Rifle Division's commander from Hill 236.7.Already by 1730, according to Colonel Lyakhov, the German advance in the direction of the Prokhorovka–Kartashevka road had been halted.

Due to other Soviet offensives that had begun in July the II SS Panzer Corps had been transferred to the Donbass while the Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland had moved to the Oryol area.

On September 8 Hitler finally authorized Army Group South's retreat to the Dniepr River, leading to a race between the two sides through eastern Ukraine.

The lead elements of 2nd Ukrainian Front reached the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih but were counterattacked on the 27th by the XXXX Panzer Corps, driving them back some 32 km and doing considerable damage to the Red Army formations in the process.

Ten days later, with gaps in its front lines around the Cherkasy bridgehead and north of Kryvyi Rih, the chief of staff of that Army pleaded for permission to stage a general withdrawal but this was denied.

During November and the first three weeks of December Konev was content to fight a battle of attrition with the 1st Panzer and 8th Armies which he could better afford, gradually clearing the right bank of the Dniepr north to Cherkasy.

On January 5 it threw a powerful blow directly at the boundary between the 8th and 6th German Armies which broke through and swept northward, reaching nearly to Kirovograd in a matter of hours.

Subsequently, it was to concentrate its tanks on the bank of the Dniestr and be prepared to launch a surprise attack to envelop the city of Kishinev.When this order was received the Corps was facing defenses of the German 4th Mountain Division.

The 290th Guards Rifle Regiment took up positions in a deep ravine containing a water-filled ditch adjacent to the riverbank which gave it cover to launch its boats and rafts before entering the main river channel at 2200 hours.

Under cover of twilight and artillery fire the battered rifle regiments managed to occupy dug-in defensive positions around the guns and bring the onslaught to a halt.

On June 25 the 95th Guards entered the Reserve of the Supreme High Command with its Corps and Army for rebuilding and eventual redeployment to 1st Ukrainian Front,[47] where it remained for the duration of the war.

By the end of August 3 it had concentrated in the Kolbuszowa region and was ordered to exploit the 3rd Guards Tank and 13th Armies' crossings over the Vistula in the Baranów Sandomierski area.

[56] Beginning on February 8 the 5th Guards Army took part in the Front's Lower Silesian Offensive with its main objective of encircling the German garrison of Breslau.

As early as the second day the Corps began facing heavy counterattacks from the "Kurt" divisional combat group which was attempting to reach Klein Peskerau; many villages changed hands several times.

Konev chose to leave 6th Army to maintain the siege while the 32nd and 33rd Guards Corps were ordered to make a decisive attack from the Magnitz area toward Koberwitz and then to the southwest.

The 95th and 97th Guards, reinforced by the 150th Tank Brigade and artillery, were to break through the German defenses on a sector from Point 168.8 to Plomuhle and take Strelen before developing the offensive in the direction of Pench and Wammelwitz.

Strelen was covered from the north and northwest by the Klein Loe Canal which would have to be forced by the 32nd Guards Corps; in addition, a large number of fortified strongpoints would have to be overcome by flexible maneuver tactics.

The 95th and 97th Guards successfully forced the Klein Loe and by the end of the day had several of the powerful German strongpoints in hand, despite having to repel several counterattacks by up to a battalion of infantry and 10 tanks each.

The next day the 95th Guards engaged in fierce street fighting with the garrison and completed its destruction on the morning of March 27, continuing on to capture several strongpoints to the south.

After an overnight advance along the Spremberg axis the 95th Guards, on the Corps' left flank, encountered Führerbegleit and the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg at Schönheide and Graustein and captured these strongpoints after heavy fighting.

In a final round of awards on May 28 the division was given the Order of Suvorov, 2nd Degree, for its part in the crossing of the Neisse as well as the capture of Cottbus and other cities and towns in Saxony.