After the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941, Parkhomenko led the division in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk as part of the 13th Army of the Western Front. It fought in the Battle of Smolensk from 10 July, and from 24 July as part of the Central Front, then the Bryansk Front from 15 August fought in defense battles on the Sozh, Sudost, and Desna Rivers. On 7 August Parkhomenko belatedly received the rank of major general, more than a year after the rank of "kombrig" had been replaced.