General Dragalina was still in command of the 6th Army Corps when Romania joined Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941 in order to reclaim the lost territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina, which had been annexed by the Soviet Union in June 1940. The 6th Corps was kept in reserve inside Romania and was sent to the Eastern Front only in October 1941, when it took part in the final phase of the Siege of Odessa. It then took part in the Crimean campaign, after which the 6th Corps moved in the spring of 1942 to the south of Izium, where it took under its command four Romanian infantry divisions (the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 20th). In May 1942, Dragalina led his troops during the Second Battle of Kharkov. The 6th Corps lost 2,983 men during the battle, but took 26,432 Soviet POWs, and also captured a large number of T-60 light tanks, as well as the first T-34 and KV-1 tanks taken intact by the Romanian Army. For the 1942 German summer offensive, Dragalina was subordinated to the 1st Panzer Army. On 22 June, the 6th Corps forced the Donets River and continued the offensive towards the Don River, advancing 450 km in 20 days. On 18 July Dragalina was promoted to lieutenant general, after which he was subordinated to the 4th Panzer Army, helping it advance across the Don River.