Viktor Zholudev commanded a division during its defense of a tractor factory located in a city now know as what
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia.
266th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) It was first formed in July 1941 from an NKVD division and destroyed during the later stages of the Battle of Smolensk in August. It was reformed in December and destroyed in the Second Battle of Kharkov in May 1942. The 266th was formed for a third time in August 1942, and fought in Operation Little Saturn, the Donbass Strategic Offensive, the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the Vistula–Oder Offensive, and the Battle of Berlin. Postwar, the division briefly remained in Germany before being withdrawn to Stalingrad, where it became a separate rifle brigade. In 1953 it was expanded into the 68th Mechanized Division, and in 1957 it became the 117th Motor Rifle Division. In 1965 it was renumbered the 266th Motor Rifle Division, and a year later transferred to the Soviet Far East. The division was based in Amur Oblast until it was reduced to a storage base in 1989.