in november 1942, the newly renamed division was sent back to stalingrad where it helped encircle and trap the attacking german 6th and 4th panzer armies during operation uranus. for its participation in the battle of stalingrad, the unit was decorated with the order of lenin. in the summer of 1943, it was sent to complement tanks and other armored vehicles during the battle of kursk in ukraine, once again retaking the cities of belgorod and bogodouqovye. from kursk, the division was sent northward to push back german army groups center and north. under the command of general ivan bagramyan, the 1st baltic front commander, it liberated the belorussian cities of vitebsk and polotski. continuing its advance to the west, the 51st guards division took part in pushing army group north out of the former soviet republics the soviet union had annexed in 1940, latvia and lithuania.