In the summer of 1941 all elements of the front commanded by General Colonel Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov were involved in heavy fighting in the Baltic Republics and on the approaches and the outskirts of Leningrad.

On 14 July the Soviet 11th Army led a successful counter-offensive from Utogrosh and the Dno district to Sitnya and Soltsi, in which German troops (in particular 8th Panzer Division) suffered heavy losses and had to retreat.

The Soviet forces of 34th, 27th and 11th Armies led a counter-offensive and closed to the ourskirts of Staraya Russa on 12 August but could not hold on to their success because of total exhaustion.

In the autumn North-West front was on a pivotal point of the fighting activities in the Moscow and Leningrad directions, covering the vital Valdai Hills from which the northern flank of the advance of the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre could be threatened.

However owing to the very difficult wooded and swampy terrain, and heavy snow cover, the initial advance by the Front was very modest against stubborn opposition.

One of the more successful attempts to regain ground in the Staraya Russa region was the Toropets-Kholm Operation led by General Pavel Kurochkin.

Only after the disaster at Stalingrad did it become possible for the Red Army to conduct Operation Polar Star from 12–26 February 1943, taking back 302 settlements in the region.