With the outbreak of war on the Eastern Front, he was made Chief of Staff of the Western Front under Army General Dmitry Pavlov. Commanded during the Battle of Białystok–Minsk from 22 June to 3 July 1941. Relieved of command on July 8, 1941 and accused of inaction and the collapse of the control of the troops. He was sentenced to death by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on July 22, 1941. The verdict was carried out on July 27, 1941 at the Kommunarka shooting ground. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.