Kozlov headed Kharkov's defence and was one of the last Russians to leave it before the Germans recaptured it on 14 March 1943. From 14 to 21 March 1943 Soviet divisions were constantly withdrawing through the woods northeast of Mokhnachev, and Kozlov took the same route away from Kharkov. From May to August 1943 he was given a post on the Leningrad Front and from August 1943 was made deputy commander of the Transbaikal Front, where he took part in the Soviet offensives against Japan. From 1946 until his retirement in 1954 he was made deputy commander of Transbaikal. He died in 1967 in Minsk.