The 89th Infantry Rifle Division (; ), or the Tamanyan Division, was a distinguished division in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War. The division was primarily remembered for its second formation, composed primarily of ethnic Armenians and fought in numerous battles during the war. First Formation The division was established at Kursk prior to June 1941. On 22 June 1941 it was part of 30th Rifle Corps in the interior Orel Military District. Fighting as part of the 19th Army, it was wiped out at Vyazma in October 1941. Second Formation The division was re-formed in December 1941 in the capital of the Armenian SSR, Yerevan, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was a redesignation of the 474th Rifle Division, which was formed on 14 December 1941 and renumbered the 89th Rifle Division on 26 December 1941. Over the course of the war period, the division had a number of commanders, including Colonel Simeon G. Zakian (who was killed in action in April 1942 during military operations in the Kerch peninsula), Lieutenant-Colonel Andranik Sargsian, Colonel Artashes Vasilian, and finally Colonel G. Safarian, who took over command in February 1943 and would eventually attain the rank of major general. It published its own weekly Armenian-language newspaper called the Karmir Zinvor (Red Soldier). The Caucasus and the Crimea In August 1942, the 89th Division was dispatched toward the North Caucasus Front, where it took up defensive positions to block the German drive toward Grozny. From November to December 1942, the unit took part in several fierce battles in the area around the cities of Elekhotvo, Malgobek, and Voznesenskaya and helped bring the German penetration into the Caucasus to a halt. As the Soviet armies shifted to the offensive during the winter of 1942-43, the 89th Division began its gradual advance toward the Crimea. On January 21, 1943, along with other Soviet forces from the Transcaucasian Front, it participated in the capture of Malgobek, Khamedan and a number of other settlements previously held by the Germans. The unit's advance picked up pace in the following month, averaging about 30-40 kilometers a day as it approached the Sea of Azov. The Germans put up a stiff resistance in the Crimea, and in the fighting around the settlement of Novo Jerilka division commander Colonel Vasilian was killed. The 89th itself suffered heavy casualties but in the following months fresh