In August 1941, he volunteered to go to the front during World War II as part of the 535th Rifle Regiment of the 127th Rifle Division, later to become the 2nd Guards Rifle Division. He was killed on 24 December 1942 during the Battle of the Caucasus in which German forces tried to invade the USSR through the Caucasus. He was killed near an Ossetian village after being surrounded by the enemy and was shot by troops of the German Wehrmacht. He was buried in a mass grave in the village. Haznidon in North Ossetia. According to the fragmentary information from surviving soldiers, the unit in which the he served was surrounded, with the soldiers, engaging in a long night raid. In 2004, the earth from the grave, located in what is now North Ossetia, was moved to the village. Kipchak, Turkmenistan. His wife, two of his sons, and other members of his family were killed in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake six years later that caused extreme damage to the city. He was part of the cult of personality of his surviving son later.