Kharkov () was one of six destroyer leaders built for the Soviet Navy during the 1930s, one of the three Project 1 variants. 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 Siege of Odessa and the Siege of Sevastopol in 1941–1942, the ship ferried reinforcements and supplies into those cities, evacuated wounded and refugees and bombarded Axis troop positions. Damaged by German aircraft a few weeks before the surrender of Sevastopol on 4 July, "Kharkov" was under repair until the beginning of August.