The 79th traces its history back to the formation of the Sakhalin Rifle Division on 17 August 1938. In January 1939, the division became the 79th Mountain Rifle Division, commanded by Kombrig Ivan Makarenko. In 1940, it was converted into the 79th Rifle Division. It became part of the 16th Army's 56th Rifle Corps in 1943. During August and September 1945, the division fought in the Invasion of South Sakhalin. For its actions in the invasion, the division was awarded the honorific "Sakhalin". During the battle for south Sakhalin, 179th Rifle Regiment Battalion commander Captain Leonid Smirnykh was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union after his battalion captured 5 bunkers and Smirnykh was killed by sniper fire. Sergeant Anton Buyukly was also made a Hero of the Soviet Un