After being drafted into the Red Army he attended the Orel Infantry School before being deployed to the warfront upon the German invasion of the Soviet Union with the rank of junior lieutenant as part of the 412th Rifle Regiment. He saw combat on the Western, Don, South-Western and Steppe fronts. He was seriously wounded twice during the second half of 1941, and by the end of 1941 he was promoted to position of battalion commander. After graduating from a sharpshooting course in 1942 he was continued to serve as battalion commander until he was seriously wounded again in December. That same year he joined the Communist party.