A cavalry officer commanding the 14th Cavalry Regiment of the 23rd Cavalry Division in the Caucasus at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Major Kusimov led the 14th Cavalry into Iran across the Aras River during the joint Anglo-Soviet invasion in August 1941. The cavalrymen encountered no resistance in securing the border around the Aramas and, continuing to move southward, easily took thousands of Iranian war prisoners in a campaign aimed at toppling the pro-German government of Rezā Shāh in favor of a pro-Allied one.