When
Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June, Bondovsky was at the division headquarters discussing ammunition resupply with his chief of artillery when he heard the sound of German bombs and the explosions that followed, though his headquarters and that of the army were unscathed. Later that day, he was summoned to the army headquarters to receive instructions for the defense of the line of the
Lasosna from the mouth of the river to Gnevenizishchna, west of
Grodno, which became the 3rd Army's rear position. Until 23 June the 85th defended these positions, then retreated to the line of the
Neman and
Svislach and further to Grodno. The division covered the retreat of the
11th Mechanized Corps towards
Novogrudok and after battles against German troops crossing the
Shchara retreated to the area of Venzovets and Dzyadlovo in the fighting, during which it was encircled. Avoiding the battle, the division bypassed Novogrudok from the southeast via Raytsa, Yeremechi, the
Naliboki forest, and Rubeksevichi. They met units of the
21st Rifle Corps on 4 July and the Soviet commanders decided to attempt to breakout from the encirclement south of Minsk at
Rudensk. From 5 July, the remnants of the 85th moved east towards
Osipovichi and Smyk, then continued, splitting into small groups. Bondovsky attempted to organize resistance until realizing the futility of these efforts on 17 July, exchanging his uniform for civilian clothes with five others. They moved east on foot but were captured on 21 July near the village of Maleyevka; Bondovsky's rank was not noticed by the Germans. After five days being marched to the rear with a prisoner of war column, he slipped away at the village of Dubinka together with a lieutenant. From 16 September Bondovsky continued alone, and on 21 October he was again captured in the area of Koloshino while attempting to cross the
Desna. Escaping the same night, he continued in the general direction of
Novgorod-Seversky,
Yampol,
Glukhov,
Rylsk, and
Kursk. Bypassing these cities, on the night of 24 December Bondovsky reached Soviet lines in the sector of the 333rd Rifle Regiment of the
6th Rifle Division south of Dolgaya in the area of Kryukovo northeast of Kursk. An investigation by intelligence officers from the special section of the division did not find compromising evidence in Bondovsky's record, and as a result he was placed at the disposal of the
Southwestern Front military council on 28 December, who were notified that he had been briefly captured. As officers who had escaped from captivity were suspected of being German agents, he did not initially receive a combat command and in early February was sent to the Main Personnel Directorate in Moscow. Bondovsky was assigned as a tactics instructor at the Vystrel course in April 1942 and in July became chief of a class of the course. In late November 1943 he returned to the front at his own request as deputy commander of the
121st Rifle Corps of the
50th Army in eastern Belarus, fighting in the
Gomel–Rechitsa Offensive. Bondovsky became commander of the
324th Rifle Division in December, leading it in the battles for a bridgehead on the western bank of the
Pronia, in which it fought in actions for the settlements of Dalnye Borki and Podlinovka. In early January 1944, after reaching the line of the Ukhlat in the area of Vetrinka and Somlitsa, the 324th went on the defensive. By 21 February, having handed over its sector, the division relocated to the east bank of the
Dnieper in the area of Selets and Kholopeyev. On 23 February it crossed the Dnieper in the area of
Adamenka south of
Bykhov at the beginning of the
Rogachev–Zhlobin Offensive. On the same day he was severely wounded during a German artillery bombardment while conducting reconnaissance, and lost his right leg. Bondovsky, who received the
Order of the Red Banner for his leadership of the 324th, was evacuated to a hospital and after recovering in September returned to the Vystrel course as chief of a class, where he spent the rest of the war. == Postwar ==