Along with its parent army corps, it initially advanced over Kovel and Sarny towards Korosten. The 62nd Infantry Division served with distinction during the encirclement of Kiev and distinguished itself with several days of very intense combat near Boryspil. During the fighting at Boryspol, 405 officers and soldiers were killed and another 487 wounded, with an additional 166 missing, all in the period of just 19 September until 24 September. The division was briefly transferred to the reserves during September 1941 as a result of the high casualties. Overall, the division had suffered 553 dead, 1,027 wounded and 182 missing over the course of September 1941, accounting for a casualty rate of 13% when compared to the divisional strength on 31 August. The division was briefly reassigned to XVII Army Group under 6th Army in October, before again being pulled to the reserves by November to serve in the army group's rearguard. The rear area of Army Group South was not yet of elevated operational importance (the focus on the southern sector would increase as the focus of the Wehrmacht's operation was shifted towards the Caucasus in 1942 and 1943), but there were incidents of attacks by partisan groups against German supply lines. Although the Ukrainian people at large were initially either indifferent towards or even enthusiastic about the end of Soviet rule and the arrival of German forces, small groups of Red Army troops, communist functionaries, and NKVD-trained auxiliaries remained to deal damage against critical points that were of importance to the German war effort. Until October, overall activity by partisans was low and major singular acts of German military reprisals against local civilian populations were rare. With the German capture of Kiev in late September, the partisan activity in northern and eastern Ukraine saw an uptick and posed an increased threat to the ever-growing rear area that Army Group South had to control. Three infantry divisions were pulled away from frontline duty to assist rearguard actions, among them the 62nd Infantry Division. The division had little prior experience in anti-partisan warfare before being assigned its task (although it had received and confirmed the Barbarossa decree). Initially, no immediate major actions were undertaken against civilians even when the division was faced by direct attacks by partisan units. This hands-off attitude persisted for the first few days of the division's presence in the area, but changed when the dead bodies of two German airmen, killed by partisans, were found on a bridge near Kamishnya on 19 October, followed by several partisan attacks over the next few days.