page_title: Leningrad Strategic Defensive
section_title: Soviet plans
hierarchical_section_title: Leningrad Strategic Defensive / Background and operational plans of the forces involved / Soviet plans
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Гражданское население на строительстве укреплений Лужского оборонительного рубежа летом 1941 года.
context_page_description: Leningrad Strategic Defensive Operation is the term in Soviet historiography for the defensive operations in the arear south of Leningrad of the Red Army and Soviet Navy during World War II from 10 July to 30 September 1941. The following operations are considered as part of the strategic operation:
  Kingisepp-Luga Defensive 10 July – 23 September 1941
  Soltsy-Dno Offensive 14–22 July 1941
  Tallinn Defensive 5– 28 August 1941
  Staraya-Russa Offensive 8–23 August 1941
  Demyansk Defensive 6–26 September 1941
context_section_description: On 4 July, General Georgy Zhukov, chief of the General Staff, gave the Military Council of the Northern Front instructions to defend Leningrad. The guideline envisaged the construction of a defensive line between Narva, Luga and Staraja Russa and expanding it to a depth of 10 to 15 km. From the end of June, three divisions of national people's militia were recruited in Leningrad and used to occupy the Luga line. On 6 July, General Konstantin Piadyshev was appointed commander of the new line of defense along the Luga River, and the Northern Front Military Council decided to strengthen the Luga section by transferring the 237th Rifle Division from Petrozavodsk and the 21st and 24th Tank Division of the 10th Mechanized Corps from Karelia. Stawka Guideline No. 260 of 7 July ordered that the commander of the Northern front immediately transferred the 70th and 177th Rifle Division to the commander of the Northwestern Front. 
  When the German breakthrough began to emerge south of Lake Peipus, the troops of the new line of defense were combined on 6 July to form the Luga Operational Group under General Konstantin Piadyshev's command. The Leningrad Infantry School (2000 men), the Kingisepp Militia and the Leningrad Gun and MG Infantry School (1900 men) soon concentrated in the area east of the city of Narva. A separate mountain rifle brigade (5800 men), which was recruited in Leningrad, was designed to secure the Luga line. The defined line of defense extended almost 250 kilometers in length from the Gulf of Finland along the rivers Luga, Mshaga, Luga Shelon to Lake Ilmen.
  The Luga Operational Group consisted of 4 rifle divisions: 70th, 111th, 177th and 191st rifle division as well as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd division of the national militia and the 41st Rifle Corps with the 90th, 235th and 118th rifle divisions.
caption: Civilians working on the Luga defensive line in the summer of 1941.
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