Stepanenko was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union for a second time on 28 January 1945; by then, he had flown 395 missions, engaged in 112 dogfights, and personally shot down 32 enemy aircraft. He was awarded the title after the end of the war on 18 August 1945. Having entered the war as an enlisted junior pilot, he was a squadron commander with the rank of major at the end of the conflict. In total he shared in the destruction of nine enemy aircraft, personally shot down 32, and engaged in 118 dogfights throughout the course of 414 missions. He marched in the Victory Day Parade on 24 June 1945 as part of the Leningrad front column; before his unit was made part of the Leningrad front it had fought having fought under Bryansk, Stalingrad, Southern, North Caucasian, and Western fronts of the war. He had flown in the battles for Voronezh, Stalingrad, Rostov, Kuban, Oryol, Riga, Polotsk, and other cities.