In June 1941, Savtchenko was a squadron commander in the 123 IAP of the 10 SmAD.

The regiment was based at Imenin on 22 June 1941 flying Polikarpov I-153s. During the first day of the war the unit claimed more than 20 victories while losing nine of their own in air combats. Pilots flew as many as 10-14 sorties; in one case even 17 sorties were reported during the day.
Savtchenko claimed two victories during the first day of the war.

He was killed during a ground-attack on a German troop column near Bobruisk in late June 1941.

At the time of his death, Savtchenko was credited with 2 biplane victories.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	22/06/41		1	Enemy aircraft	Destroyed	I-153		Imenin	123 IAP
2	22/06/41		1	Enemy aircraft	Destroyed	I-153		Imenin	123 IAP

Biplane victories: 2 destroyed.
TOTAL: 2 destroyed.

Sources:
Aerohobby No.1'94, kindly via Alexey Andreev
Stalin's Eagles - Hans D. Seidl, 1998 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-7643-0476-3
Additional information kindly provided by Yuri Shakhov.