Redrafted into the army in February 1927, Parkhomenko was appointed commander of the 87th Transbaikal Cavalry Regiment of the 9th Far Eastern Separate Cavalry Brigade in Spassk, commanding the regiment in the Sino-Soviet conflict of 1929. He graduated from the Novocherkassk Cavalry Officers Improvement Course (KUKS) in 1929 and the Higher Academic Course at the Frunze Military Academy in 1930. Parkhomenko was arrested in July 1931, dismissed from the army, and put under investigation. He was sentenced to three years in prison by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union for "failure to comply with orders of the Revolutionary Military Council and [military] district on the especially careful storage of weapons", but was amnestied in October.