Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, part one.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet fighter and interceptor aircraft used during the World War II. It was a development of the previous MiG-1 by the OKO (Experimental Design Department) of zavod (factory) No.1 to fix the problems encountered during the development and testing of the MiG-1.
It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No.1 on 20th December 1940 and was manufactured in large numbers during the first six-seven months of 1941 before the production line of the factory No.1 was converted to manufacture the Ilyushin Il-2.
When Operation Barbarossa began, on 22nd June 1941, around 1000 of MiG-3 were in active service with either the VVS (Soviet Air Forces), the PVO (Soviet Air Defence Forces or the Soviet Naval Aviation. It was a difficult aircraft to fly in peacetime and it was even harder to handle in combat. Designed for high-altittude combat, but most of the aerial skirmishes in the Eastern Front took place at low altittudes where the German Messerschmitt Bf.109F (the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force during almost all the war) was superior to all of its Soviet adversaries. During autumn-winter 1941 it was pressed into service by fitting either rocket launchers under the wings or small bombs, but it didn't stand out in that role. As the war progressed, they were assigned to the PVO, where their weaknesses didn't matter that much as they weren't commited to frontline forces. All of them were withdrawn from active service with the last one being withdrawn by 1944.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-3
2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 204 - Early Mig Fighters in Action
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters