Winter War Baranov commanded the brigade during the
Winter War. In February 1940, he commanded a mobile group of the
7th Army that included his brigade and the 15th Motor Rifle and Machine Gun Brigade during the Soviet breakthrough of the
Mannerheim Line. The group, in cooperation with the
123rd Rifle Division, broke through Finnish defenses in the area of
Kämärä. During the capture of the fortified position of
Pienpiro, Baranov demonstrated "high organizational ability, courage and bravery." For his performance, he was awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet Union and the
Order of Lenin on 21 March 1940, receiving a simultaneous promotion to the rank of
kombrig.
Eastern Front Baranov, who received the rank of
major general on 4 June, was appointed commander of the
1st Tank Division of the
1st Mechanized Corps in June 1940. He underwent retraining at the Courses of Improvement for Higher Officers (KUVNAS) of the
Frunze Military Academy between November 1940 and May 1941, then returned to his command. From the beginning of
Operation Barbarossa, Baranov led the division as part of the
14th Army in the
Kandalaksha sector. From 30 June it was attempting to halt the Finnish advance under the command of the
Northern Front. After the German advance from
Luga and
Kingisepp the division was relocated to the
Krasnogvardeysk area. Subsequently, the 1st Tank Division fought in defense of the line of
Volosovo,
Lake Ilmen,
Krasnoye Selo,
Taytsy, Gatchino, and
Pushkin, temporarily halting the German advance. The German advance split the division into two parts, with one defending in the Pushkin area and the other at
Oranienbaum. In late September, the division was reorganized into the
123rd Tank Brigade, which Baranov continued to command. He led it as part of the
54th Army during September and October in failed offensives in the area of
Mga towards Nevskoy Dubrovki. Appointed deputy commander-in-chief for armored forces of the 54th Army in April 1942, Baranov became deputy commander-in-chief for tank forces of the
Leningrad Front in June 1942 and commander-in-chief of the Armored and Mechanized Forces of the front in January 1943. In this position, he participated in
Operation Iskra, the
Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive,
Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive,
Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive,
Baltic Offensive,
Tartu Offensive, and
Narva Offensive. Promoted to lieutenant general on 15 December 1943, Baranov was sent the study at the
Voroshilov Higher Military Academy in April 1945. == Postwar ==