Completed in 1938, she was slightly damaged during the Raid on Constanța a few days after the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June and covered the evacuation of the Danube Flotilla to Odessa the following month.

During the Battle of the Caucasus, the ship performed the same missions as she did earlier, bombarding Axis positions and ferrying troops into and wounded men out of ports threatened by the German advance along the Black Sea coast.

The Leningrads carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).

To practice this plan, she participated in exercises with the Red Army's 9th Special Rifle Corps between 4 and 19 June 1941, supporting a mock amphibious landing on the west coast of Crimea, near Tendra.

[12][10] In the first weeks of the war, the squadron of the Black Sea Fleet was tasked with disrupting Axis supply lines by bombarding Constanța and its oil tanks.

For the raid, the heavy cruiser Voroshilov and Moskva were to cover the bombardment of the port by the latter's sister ship Kharkov, Smyshleny and the destroyer Soobrazitelny.

Moskva and Kharkov departed Sevastopol Bay at 20:10, initially heading towards Odessa as a deception measure and then turning towards their destination slightly more than an hour later, followed by the support group.

The sisters fired 350 rounds between them at oil tanks and railway stations from a range of about 20 km (12 mi), blowing up an ammunition train and inflicting considerable damage.

As they were preparing to depart at 04:16 after having fired for 10 minutes, they were engaged by German coastal artillery and the Romanian destroyers Regina Maria and Mărăști at ranges between 11,000 to 16,000 m (12,000 to 17,000 yd).

[17] Kharkov was repaired by 18 July and, together with the light cruiser Komintern and the destroyers Smyshlennyy, Bodry and Shaumyan and numerous smaller craft, covered the retreat of the Danube Flotilla to Odessa during the next several days.

[19] Between February and July 1942, Kharkov bombarded German troops many times and brought in reinforcements and supplies for Sevastopol, evacuating wounded and refugees as she returned to port.

[20] After repairs Kharkov bombarded Axis positions near Feodosiya on 2–3 August and provided fire support for the defenders of Novorossiysk on 1–4 September.

[22] During the night of 5/6 October 1943 Kharkov and the destroyers Besposhchadny and Sposobny bombarded Yalta, Alushta and Feodosia and were attacked by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers of III./StG 3 on their return voyage.