On 23 June 1941, "Voroshilov" covered Soviet destroyers bombarding Constanţa, but the destroyer leader "Moskva" was sunk by a mine and "Kharkov" was damaged by return fire. She bombarded Axis positions near Odessa in mid-September, but was transferred to Novorossiysk shortly afterwards. On 2 November, she was hit twice in harbor by Junkers Ju 88 bombers of KG 51; one hit started a fire in #3 magazine that was extinguished by water flooding in from the second hit. She had to be towed to Poti for repairs, which lasted until February 1942. She shelled Axis positions near Feodosiya on 2 April 1942, but was damaged by some near misses on 10 April and had to return to Batumi for repairs. In May she supported Soviet troops around Kerch and the Taman Peninsula while helping to transfer the 9th Naval Infantry Brigade from Batumi to Sevastopol. On 29 November 1942, she was damaged by nearby mine explosions while bombarding Feodonisi, but managed to return to Poti under her own power. Just after her repairs were completed she assisted Soviet forces landing behind German lines at the so-called "Malaya Zemlya" at the end of January 1943. The loss of three destroyers to German aircraft attempting to interdict the German evacuation of the Taman Bridgehead on 6 October 1943 caused Stalin to forbid the deployment of large naval units without his express permission and this meant the end of "Voroshilov"s active participation in the war.