In early June 1941, Karbyshev was sent on the inspection trip to Western Special Military District. German invasion caught him at the headquarters of Soviet 3rd Army in Grodno. Two days later, he moved to the headquarters of the Soviet 10th Army. On June 27, 1941, the army became surrounded and eventually destroyed during the Battle of Białystok–Minsk. In August 1941, Karbyshev suffered from post-concussion syndrome in combat at the Dnieper River in what is now the Shklow Raion, Mogilev Region, and while unconscious was captured by the Nazis.