During the Siege of Odessa the ship escorted a transport to Odessa and provided naval gunfire support before she was badly damaged by Axis bombers in August. After repairs were completed in November, "Tashkent" ferried reinforcements and supplies, evacuated wounded and refugees, and bombarded Axis positions during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1941–1942. The last ship to enter Sevastopol harbor in June before the city surrendered, she was crippled by Axis bombers on her return voyage to Novorossiysk and was sunk a few days later during an air strike on the harbor there. Her wreck was refloated in 1944, but it was a constructive total loss and was scrapped after the war.