On 17 Sept. the 193rd division, commanded by Col. F. N. Smekhotvorov, was assigned to the 62nd Army and fought during theBattle of Stalingrad. On 22 Sept., the 685th Regiment was ferried from the east to the west bank of the Volga into central Stalingrad and five nights later, on the 27th, the other two regiments joined it. The 883rd and 895th were deployed in the Red October factory complex.
On 2 October, the 883rd regiment was attacked by German tanks. Anti-tank rifleman Mikhail Panikakha was attempting to defend his position with Molotov cocktails. A German bullet ignited one of his bombs, setting him alight. Then he threw himself against a tank with his remaining bomb and destroyed it, at the cost of his own life. Panikakha was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.
