After the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) in June 1941, Steregushchy participated in the Gulf of Riga Campaign.

The ship briefly provided naval gunfire support during the Siege of Leningrad before she was sunk by German dive bombers on 21 September.

Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Gnevnys varied between 1,670 to 3,145 nautical miles (3,093 to 5,825 km; 1,922 to 3,619 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

[9] When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Steregushchy was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Division of the Light Forces Detachment, based in Ust-Dvinsk, Latvia.

The following day the division, the light cruiser Maxim Gorky, Steregushchy and her sisters Gordy and Gnevny, was tasked with covering minelaying operations at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland.

They entered a German minefield 16 to 18 nautical miles (30 to 33 km; 18 to 21 mi) northwest of Tahkuna Lighthouse and Maxim Gorky had her bow blown off by a mine.

[10] Under the flag of Light Forces detachment commander Kontr-admiral (Rear Admiral) Valentin Drozd, she and the destroyer Serdity covered minelaying by the guard ships Tucha and Sneg on 18 July.

By 14:00 of that day they returned to the Kübasaar roadstead near Saaremaa, but quickly turned back after receiving a message that a German convoy had been spotted.

Due a lack of coordination with Soviet Naval Aviation, both destroyers came under friendly air attack and at 15:31 a bomb dropped by a Tupolev SB bomber exploded close to Serdity, knocking out a boiler and both rangefinders in the conning tower.

[11] On 11 August, Steregushchy was one of the escorts for the passenger ship SS Vyacheslav Molotov as she steamed from Tallinn to Kronstadt when they entered a minefield.