The 250th Rifle Division was formed from a cadre of NKVD border troops as a standard Red Army rifle division, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It was one of a series of similar NKVD-based divisions formed at that time. It served in the heavy fighting around Smolensk in July, then later in the defensive operations around Kalinin. During the Soviet winter counteroffensive it was part of the forces of Kalinin Front that drove the German forces away from Toropets. In the initial phase of Operation Bagration the division was given special recognition for its role in the liberation of the Belorussian city of Bobruisk. The 250th had a distinguished career as a combat unit, ending its combat path in Berlin.