By the time he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union in mid-November 1942 his sniper tally had reached 262 enemy soldiers. After graduating from officer training he received the rank of junior lieutenant in February 1943. He became commander of a rifle platoon upon return to his regiment and went on to fight in the Demyansk operation. In May 1943 he was withdrawn from the front for health reasons and treated in Tver. During his deployment he trained over 30 other snipers, and according to his count killed 313 enemy soldiers.