Baltic Military District
Formed in March 1941 in response to the German victories in the West, it served with the 8th Army and was held in reserve near Šiauliai in Lithuania 75 km northwest of Kaunas in the Special Baltic Military District. Under the command of Major General N.M.Shestopalov when the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, it initially consisted of the 23rd and 28th Tank Divisions and the 202nd Mechanized Division. After the invasion began the Special Baltic Military District was renamed Northwestern Front, commanded by Colonel General Kutznetsov. The front fielded the 8th and 11th Armies along with the 27th Army in its second echelon. The 12th Mechanized was heavily engaged in the first battles of Operation Barbarossa, particularly during the Baltic Operation (1941) and at the Battle of Raseiniai, and by early July it had virtually ceased to exist as a formation, although remnants rejoined Soviet lines later.