In March 1940 he was deployed to the front of the Winter War as part of the 148th Fighter Regiment, but he only made 17 sorties before the end of the conflict.

Just a month before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he became a flight commander in the 241st Attack Aviation Regiment.

He made fifteen sorties on the I-153 during the defense of the Baltics before being sent to Voronezh, having gotten a concussion 4 July 1941 when he was forced to make an emergency landing at night after being shot down.

During a mission on 8 June 1943, Bondarenko and his gunner were shot down and badly injured after being attacked multiple times by enemy fighters.

After he was awarded his second gold star on 24 August 1943, he was not permitted to fly combat missions, so in October he began studying at the Air Force Academy.

[4] Bondarenko remained in the military after the war and attended the Air Force Academy in Monino, which he graduated from in early 1947.

He was not in command of the unit for very long because he died of drowning in Olawa, Poland while swimming in the Oder river on 27 July 1947 and was buried in his home village of Bogdanovka.