In April she again requested to be sent to the Eastern front, but after the establishment of women's naval detachment of the Pacific fleet in May by decree of the State Defense Committee she was sent to the Pacific front to fight in the Soviet-Japanese war as part of the 51st artillery battalion as a signalman. She was later reassigned to the 100th and 419th artillery batteries as a rangefinder. In 1944 she was reassigned to undergo further training at Naval Hospital No.8 in Vladivostok, and after completion of training, she was deployed as a medical orderly in the 355th Independent Guards Naval Infantry Battalion. The battalion saw heavy combat after the start of the Soviet–Japanese War, which began August 9, 1945; several days after the Soviet invasion of Manchukuo, she was part of a landing group to take control of the port of Seishin (present-day Chongjin, North Korea). Many of the transports used in the landing were shelled by the Japanese, during which she attended to soldiers injured from the attacks. After the landing, she continuously provided medical care to the injured, carrying wounded soldiers and their weapons to shelter. Throughout nearly two days of intense battle she saved the lives of an estimated 52 Soviet paratroopers. After her legs were wounded on the battlefield she made an improvised bandage but did not retreat. After running through the battlefield towards a group of soldiers surrounded by the Japanese, firing on enemy combatants with a machine gun, she attempted to establish a defensive position to wait for reinforcements so she could evacuate the wounded, but was heavily outnumbered and was captured by the Japanese after she lost consciousness. Seeking information about the military operations, Japanese soldiers brutally tortured Tsukanova, having gouged out her eyes and cut her with knives before burying her mutilated body.