He fought in the Winter War before being demobilized, but he was redrafted into the army a week before the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

He was wounded for the first time in January 1942 and moved to the Leningrad Front in August 1942 as part of the 260th Rifle Regiment.

There he trained 25 new snipers and personally killed 83 enemy soldiers, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 11 November.

On 26 September 1943 he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class for killing 359 Nazis and training 106 new snipers.

[2][4][5] After being discharged from the military he returned to working as a schoolteacher in his home village, becoming the director of the school and the head of the local department of education.