JG 51 at the time was part of the "Fliegerkorps" II, operating in the central sector of the Eastern Front. Bär claimed five aerial victories on 30 June 1941, bringing his total to 22. On this day JG 51 was credited with 113 aerial victories in total, among them their 1,000th aerial victory—the first unit to reach this figure—and "Oberst" Werner Mölders, with 82 aerial victories, surpassed Manfred von Richthofen in number of victories. The "Geschwader" recorded 24 separate engagements in a 14-hour period and lost five Bf 109s. Bär's opponents included Ilyushin DB-3 bombers from the 42nd and 52nd DBA ("Dal'me-Bombardirovochnaya Aviatsiya"—long range aviation bomber regiment). Five Tupolev TB-3s from the 3rd TBAP were also claimed.