In June 1941, the Emergency Headquarters of the Defense of Leningrad, under the leadership of Zhdanov and Voroshilov, decided to build the Luga defensive line. Heavy fighting west of Pskov forced part of the front to withdraw, and on July 9 - to leave Pskov. Fighting on the Luga direction restrained the enemy. The first attacks of the Germans, intending to overcome the Luga frontier on the move, were repulsed with great losses for them.—zoroman2008

In the autumn of 1941, fierce battles took place on the outskirts of Pulkovo Heights. Germans tank wedges made their way to Uritsk and Pulkovo heights. But the fascist tanks and motorized infantry were stopped one and a half kilometers south of the Pulkovo Observatory. Soviet troops held this line for all 900 days of the blockade.—zoroman2008