She attempted to bombard Finnish coast defense guns during action in the Winter War, but was driven off by a number of near misses that damaged her.

While expensive, about half the cost of a new Project 68bis Sverdlov-class cruiser, it was deemed a success and allowed Kirov to serve for another two decades.

[5] Kirov sailed to Riga on 22 October when the Soviet Union began to occupy Latvia, continuing on to Liepāja the following day.

[6] During the Winter War, Kirov, escorted by the destroyers Smetlivyi and Stremitel'nyi, attempted to bombard Finnish coast defense guns at Russarö, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Hanko on 30 November.

She only fired 35 rounds before she was damaged by a number of near misses and had to return to the Soviet naval base at Liepāja for repairs.

Off-loading her fuel and ammunition to reduce her draft, she passed through the shallow Moon Sound Channel (between Muhu island and the Estonian mainland) with great difficulty, and managed to reach Tallinn by the end of June.

[5] After Leningrad was liberated in early 1944, Kirov remained there, and took no further part in the war except to provide gunfire support for the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive in mid–1944.

She was reclassified as a training cruiser, regularly visiting Poland and East Germany, on 2 August 1961 and sold for scrap on 22 February 1974.