Following the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, Gnido participated in the Tiraspol-Melitopol, Donbas and Rostov operations. On 12 December 1941, Gnido rammed a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber, with his Polikarpov I-16 fighter. While he was seriously wounded, he managed to bail out of his aircraft.