At the time of the German attack on Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, mladshiy leitenant Grafov served in the 249 IAP, which was equipped with I-153s.

During the afternoon on 23 July, pilots from 44 IAD claimed two Ju 88s. One fell near Kapitanovka, being shot down by the I-153 of mladshiy leitenant Grafov from 249 IAP, while the second was claimed by mladshiy leitenant Novikov from 88 IAP in a I-16, who claimed one over Smela. According to some sources, Novikov’s claim was a “taran” ramming attack.

Grafov ended the war with one biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	23/07/41	p.m.	1	Ju 88	Destroyed	I-153		near Kapitanovka	249 IAP

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 destroyed.

Sources:
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 Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov