The 243rd Rifle Division was one of a series of 15 divisions formed from cadres of NKVD border troops as standard Red Army rifle divisions, very shortly after the German invasion, in the Moscow Military District. It served in the heavy fighting around Smolensk in July, then later in the defensive operations around Kalinin. It then saw extensive service in the severe fighting around Rzhev, before being moved south in the winter of 1942-43. In the following winter the division was recognized for its role in the liberation of Nikopol, receiving that place name as an honorific. After battling through Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and Austria, the 243rd completed a very complex combat path by ending the war in Manchuria and earning a second honorific.