In 1918, he became a cadet, joining the White Army, and fought in Southern Russia under the command of Generals Anatoly Lieven and Boris Permikin; he was awarded the Cross of St. George.
[clarification needed] In 1922 he worked in Danzig, then moved to Berlin, and studied theology and philosophy in Italy.
Through the Catholic Church, since 1947 he led the work of the Russian Center in Rome, and engaged in the distribution of material assistance provided by the International Refugee Organization under the United Nations and the Committee for Aid to Russian refugees in Italy.
Kovalenko was actively assisted by the Congregation of Marian Fathers monks George Bryanchaninov and Andrei Katkov and they joined the French Jesuit Philippe de Regis [ru].
In 1951 Kovalenko went to Argentina to help Archimandrite Nikolai Alekseev, where at the church of Saints Peter and Paul he created a library.