Noted for his superb command of the 24th Tank Corps in 1942 during the German Stalingrad campaign, Badanov was promoted to lieutenant-general (a rank above major-general in the Soviet system) soon after the Tatsinskaya Raid and became the first recipient of the Order of Suvorov, second class, in 1943. Badanov commanded the 4th Tank Army from July 1943, leading it during Operation Kutuzov and the battles for Right-bank Ukraine. From September the army was in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, and in February 1944 joined the 1st Ukrainian Front. On 6 January 1944 he was awarded the United States Distinguished Service Cross for "extraordinary heroism".