The 27th Army was formed in May 1941, under the command of Major General Nikolai Berzarin.

[1] It became part of the Northwestern Front on the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa, fighting in the Soviet defense of the Baltic, known in Soviet historiography as the Baltic Strategic Defensive Operation.

From June to October 1941 the 27th Army fought on the Dvina River, during the Staraya Russa Offensive, and at Kholm and Demyansk.

By 1 November 1941 the army's forces had been reduced to the 23rd and 33rd Rifle Divisions, the 613th Artillery Regiment of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK), the 28th Tank Division, and three Battalions of engineers.

The army reformed in May 1942, within the Northwestern Front, consisting of five rifle divisions.