The brigade and its corps were sent to the Bryansk Front in mid-July for Operation Kutuzov. For combat successes, the brigade became the 23rd Guards Motor Rifle Brigade on 27 July 1943 while the corps became the 7th Guards Tank Corps and Golovachev, promoted to colonel on 11 July, received the Order of the Red Banner. The corps was relocated to the Voronezh Front (the 1st Ukrainian Front from 20 October) in September and fought in the Battle of Kiev, the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive, and the Proskurov–Chernovitsy Offensive. For the capture of Vasilkov, the brigade received the name of the city as an honorific. For his actions during this period, Golovachev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 3 January and second Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, on 10 January.