At the time of the German attack on Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, mladshiy leitenant Petr Grachev served in the 55 IAP, which was equipped with a mix of MiG-3s and I-153s.

Between 13:45-14:55 on 26 June, ten MiG-3s and nine I-153s of 55 IAP escorted bombers of 211 BBAP and 45 SBAP. While approaching the target, one I-153 ’zveno’ was attacked by several Bf 109s. The Soviet biplanes became engaged in a dogfight and mladshiy leitenant Grachev and mladshiy leitenant Grigoriy Rechkalov claimed a Bf 109 each.
While leaving the target, the I-153s strafed enemy infantry and artillery positions.
One MiG-3, flown by ’zveno’ commander, leitenant V. Nosov, did not return to base.

Grachev ended the war with one biplane victory and a total of 2.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	26/06/41	13:45-14:55	1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Ungheni	55 IAP
2	??/??/4?		1	Enemy aircraft	Destroyed				55 IAP

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 2 destroyed.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936–1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
From Barbarossa to Odessa: Volume 1 – Dénes Bernád, Dmitriy Karlenko and Jean-Louis Roba, 2007 Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, ISBN 978-85780-273-3
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov
Additional information kindly provided by Ondrej Repka.