The 40th Army participated in the Voronezh–Voroshilovgrad Defensive Operation; on 30 June 1942, enemy forces, concentrating large forces against the right wing of the army, broke through the defense of Soviet troops in the cities of Livny and Volchansk, which led to the encirclement of many parts of the 40th Army and the rapid advance of the enemy to Voronezh. In this regard, Parsegov, who was in a state of severe psychological overstrain, was removed from his post on 3 July 1942.