With the start of World War I in 1914 the Tsar needed soldiers from the peasants and Balabanov had to balance this with keeping enough farmers in the fields to produce enough food for everyone.
Balabanov spent a great deal of time working with Alexander Dutov and General Grigory Semyonov in diplomacy.
He refused the French offer of sanctuary but with the help of Dutov he escaped through the mountainous passes with his younger children, third wife, and trusted officers to China in 1920.
He settled in the border area for about 6 months helping the anti-Bolsheviks until an assassination attempt (a 10,000 ruble reward was posted for him) forced him to flee with his family overland to Hankou, passing through the Gobi Desert.
Balabanov and his family stayed in Hankou for 6 years before emigrating to Vancouver on the RMS Empress of Russia with the help of Western Missionaries in Shanghai.
He settled with his family (Clara, Basil, Taras, Galina and Olga) and lived on a farm in Richmond, Vancouver, and in Grand Forks, British Columbia.
In spite of his background Vasile spent the remainder of his life working as a labourer because he never learned to speak English.