On November 21, the 89th Division participated in the Kerch–Eltigen Operation, an ambitious Soviet military operation involving the landing of amphibious troops onto the Kerch Peninsula. The unit landed near the settlements of Baksi and Adzhimushkay, not far from the Strait of Kerch, and held its position for five months despite withering Axis fire. Beginning in January 1944, it slowly made headway toward Kerch and dislodged the defending Axis troops from one portion of the city. Members of the division distinguished themselves once more, the most prominent of them being field-engineer Jahan S. Karakhanyan, who was killed in December 1943 while trying to establish a new observation post and posthumously awarded with the medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union. In recognition of its efforts, on 24 April 1944 the division was awarded with the Order of the Red Star.