Units of the 17th Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretskiy District of Moscow Were Formed in This Building in 1941
The 17th Division of the People’s Militia was a military unit of the Red Army of the USSR Armed Forces, which took part in the Great Patriotic War. The division was formed on July 6, 1941 at the Moscow Institute of National Economy named after Plekhanov at the address: 28, Stremyanny Lane. Volunteers from the Moskvoretskiy and Sverdlovskiy districts of Moscow, as well as employees of the Moscow Electromechanical Plant named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1, Partiynyi Lane), the Kozhobedinenie factory (Nizhniye Kotly), Frunze Cotton Factory (9, Varshavskoe Highway), the First model printing house (28, Valovaya street), Goznak factory (27, Pavel Andreev str.), M.I. Kalinin worsted spinning factory (25A, Varshavskoe Highway), Mazevskiy Furniture factory (68, Dubininskaya str.), Gazoapparat plant (25, Malaya Tulskaya str.), Steklomashina plant (5, Zagorodnoye Highway); the Institute of National Economy named after Plekhanov (28, Stremyanny lane) joined the division. More than 7,000 volunteers have signed up for the People’s militia of the Moskvoretsky district in total. Its first commander was Colonel of the Moscow Military District P.S. Kozlov. On July 9, the division marched through Kaluga Square along Kaluga and Warsaw highways from Moscow in the south-western direction. By the evening of the same day, the division reached a field camp located in the villages of Letovo and Sosenki. In the camp, the division was replenished with volunteers from the Lublino and Kashira districts of the Moscow region, as well as employees of enterprises of Pavlovskiy Posad. On July 18, the division was transferred to the construction of the Mozhaisk line of defence in the Ilyinskoye –Sergeyevka area. On July 21, weapons, uniforms, and shoes were received. On July 31, after the creation of the Reserve Front, the division as part of the 33rd Army was concentrated in the area of Spas-Demensk. On August 1, the division occupied positions southwest of Warsaw Highway along the Yablonovo – Podlesnaya – Krisilino – Osinovka line. On August 8, at the village of Palkovo, the division received banners and took the oath. On August 26, the division was transferred to the organization and staff of the reduced rifle division. On September 19, the division was transformed into the 17th Rifle Division. A memorial plaque has been erected in honour of the formation of the unit of the 17th Division of the People’s Militia of the Moskvoretsky district of Moscow.
Address: Moscow, 1st Kazachiy lane, 10, p. 1
