71st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division (Soviet Union)

The division began forming at the Penza Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Camp around 23 October 1943, when Colonel Grigory Novikov was appointed commander.^[1] It was part of the Volga Military District, and included the 1998th, 2002nd, 2006th, and 2010th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiments.^[2] In March 1944, the camp was relocated to Zhitomir.^[3] The division remained in the Volga Military District until May, when it transferred to the Kiev Military District.^[4] From 25 August, Colonel Grigory Svet served as division commander, leading it for the rest of the war.^[1]

The division remained in Kiev Military District until 25 February, when it was transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front.^[5] The 71st, alongside the 173rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 56th Fighter Aviation Division and later the 10th Air Defense Corps, carried out the aerial blockade during the Siege of Breslau. In March the 71st was transferred to the 6th Army,^[6] but in April was directly subordinated to the front again.^[7] It fought in the Berlin Offensive from 24 April,^[8] receiving the Berlin honorific for its actions in the offensive.^[9][10] On 4 June, the division was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class, for its role in the Siege of Breslau.^[11]

Postwar, the 71st became part of the Central Group of Forces. Svet continued to command until September, when he transferred to command the 69th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division.^[9] The division was among those anti-aircraft artillery divisions disbanded without being converted into another unit by the end of the 1950s.^[12]

• Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (1967). Сборник приказов РВСР, РВС СССР, НКО и Указов Президиума Верховного Совета СССР о награждении орденами СССР частей, соединениий и учреждений ВС СССР. Часть II. 1945 - 1966 гг [Collection of orders of the RVSR, RVS USSR and NKO on awarding orders to units, formations and establishments of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part II. 1945–1966] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-03. Retrieved 2018-01-26.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Dudarenko, M.L.; Perechnyov, Yu. G.; Yeliseyev, V.T. (1985). Освобождение городов: Справочник по освобождению городов в период Великой Отечественной войны 1941-1945 [Liberation of the Cities: A Handbook of the Liberation of Cities during the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
• Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II: From the Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. ISBN 9785895035306.
• Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1972). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть III (Январь — декабрь 1943 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part III (January–December 1943)] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
• Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1988). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть IV (Январь — декабрь 1944 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part IV (January–December 1944)] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat.
• Gurkin, V.V.; et al. (1990). Боевой состав Советской армии: Часть V (Январь—сентябрь 1945 г.) [Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, Part V (January–September 1945)] (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.
• Tkachev, V.I. (May 2004). "ПВО фронтов в Берлинской наступательной операции" [Air defense forces of the front during the Berlin operation] (PDF). Voyenno-Istorichesky Zhurnal [Military History Journal] (in Russian) (5): 8–16.
• 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.