The western boundary of the front in June 1941 was 865 km long, from the Pripyat River and the town of Wlodawa to the Prut River and the town of Lipkany at the border with Romania.

It connected to the north with the Western Front, which extended to the Lithuanian border, and to the south with the Southern Front, which extended to the city of Odessa on the Black Sea.

The Southwestern Front was on the main axis of attack by the German Army Group South during Operation Barbarossa.

At the outbreak of war with Germany, the Front was commanded by Mikhail Kirponos and contained the Soviet 5th, 6th, 26th, and 12th Armies along the frontier.

During the period of the Battle of Moscow it was under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, and included from north to south the 40th, 21st, 38th and 6th Armies.