1st Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division

After Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began on 22 June 1941, the regiment became part of the Moscow Air Defense Front. On the night of 21 July, it was involved in the repulse of a German air raid,^[5] claiming two planes downed out of 22 shot down that night.^[2] On 21 October, two batteries from the 193rd were among the six anti-aircraft batteries with 211 guns sent to the front to serve in an anti-tank role during the Battle of Moscow;^[6] they were credited with destroying 21 tanks, three mortar batteries, two armored vehicles, and seven bunkers, as well as killing more than 200 German soldiers.^[7] It defended against German air raids on Moscow, and was credited with downing 38 aircraft by 29 December.^[8] The 193rd helped repulse small groups of German aircraft attempting to raid Moscow in bad weather on 6 January 1942.^[9] For "successful fulfillment of command tasks, organization, and discipline of personnel", the 193rd was converted into the 72nd Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment on 7 November, the first Guards unit in the Air Defense Forces.^[10]

On 3 June 1943, the regiment was expanded into the 1st Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division of the Special Moscow Air Defense Army, under Colonel Kiknadze's command. It included the 236th, 237th, 240th, 242nd, and 244th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments, the 1st Guards Searchlight Regiment, and the 32nd Guards Separate Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion with light guns. The division's regiments were expanded from the 193rd's battalions.^[11] For the rest of the war, the 1st Guards provided defense against German air raids for the western sector of the Moscow Air Defense Zone. After the front moved farther away from Moscow, the division saw progressively less combat. Kiknadze was promoted to Major General on 18 November 1944.^[12] In 1945, the division participated in the May Day parade on Red Square.^[3] On 24 June, Kiknadze led a contingent of eight batteries with 32 85mm guns and 34 vehicles from the division in the Moscow Victory Parade.^[13]

After the end of the war, Kiknadze continued to command the division until January 1951, when he was promoted to become deputy commander of the Moscow Air Defense Region's anti-aircraft artillery.^[3] The division became part of the Moscow Air Defense Area in 1948 when the Air Defense Forces in the Moscow area were reorganized, transferring to the Moscow Air Defense District in a 1954 reorganization. Major General Vasily Gladkov commanded the division between May 1953 and January 1957.^[14] By 1955, the division included three regiments: the 47th, 236th, and 240th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments. Its command post was located in the Maryino-Znamenskoye area. In mid-1960, the division was disbanded, after gradually being replaced by the 1st Special Purpose Air Defense Army as surface-to-air missiles replaced anti-aircraft guns. The 1st Guards were the last of the Moscow area anti-aircraft artillery divisions to disband.^[4]

The lineage of the division's 236th Regiment is continued by the 42nd Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment,^[15] and that of the 240th Regiment by the 79th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade, disbanded in 2001.^[7]

• Komarov, N. Ya.; et al. (1981). Войска ПВО страны в Великой Отечественной войце 1941 — 1945: Краткая хроника [Air Defense Forces in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945: A Brief Chronicle] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
• Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1964). Командование корпусного и дивизионного звена советских вооруженных сил периода Великой Отечественной войны 1941 – 1945 гг [Commanders of Corps and Divisions in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Frunze Military Academy.
• Tsapayev, D.A.; et al. (2014). Goremykin, Viktor (ed.). Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь [The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole. ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0.