The article is devoted to the analysis of theoretical foundations of survival strategies of firms in periods of pronounced crises. It focuses on the study of COVID-19 pandemic impact on the survival of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Such firms are the most vulnerable to the external shocks and uncertainty of environmental changes due to their limited resource availability and «liability of smallness». The results of the bibliometric analysis revealthat organisational resilience, innovation, and crisis management are dominant among the researched approaches to overcoming the consequences of the crisis.