Ropucha-class landing ship

The Ropucha class, Soviet designation Project 775, is a class of landing ship built in Poland for the Soviet Navy. The ships were built in the Stocznia Północna shipyards in Gdańsk, Poland. They were designed for beach landings, and can carry 450 tons of cargo. The ships have both bow and stern doors for loading and unloading vehicles, and the of vehicle deck stretch the length of the hull. Up to 25 armored personnel carriers can be embarked.
While designed for roll-on/roll-off operations, they can also be loaded using dockside cranes. For this purpose there is a long sliding hatch-cover above the bow section for access to the vehicle deck. There are no facilities for helicopters.
The Soviet Navy commissioned a total of 28 ships of this type from 1975 to 1991. The last three ships were of the improved variant Project 775M, also called Ropucha II. These have improved defensive armament and accommodation for a greater number of troops.

Operational history

Most of the ships became part of the Russian Navy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. They were used for landing troops at the Georgian port of Poti during the Russo-Georgian War and for deliveries of cargo during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war.
One ship of the class was delivered to South Yemen in 1979 and served the Yemeni Navy until 2002, before it was sold as a civilian cargo ship named Sam of Yemen. It was the only one of the class in service outside the former Soviet Union.
On 3 August 2012, international media reported that three vessels of the class, Aleksandr Otrakovsky, Georgy Pobedonosets and Kondopoga, would visit the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria. The ships were part of the Northern Fleet. Earlier reports, quoting an anonymous source at the Russian general staff, said the ships would spend a few days in Tartus and take on fresh supplies of food and water. British media added that the ships each had up to 120 marines on board. The Russian defence ministry left open the possibility that the ships might dock there at some point for logistical reasons, saying they had every right to do so. The General Staff source had said that after calling at Tartus they would head for the Bosporus and the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. From 2013 on, ten Ropucha-class ships, gathered from all four Russian fleets, were used to transport military equipment from Novorosiysk to Tartus, during an intervention in the Syrian civil war.
All four ships of the Russia's Black Sea Fleet, namely,, Yamal and Azov, were modernized with installation of the Tsentavr-NM2S, Auriga and Cobham SAILOR satellite phones.

Russo-Ukrainian War

file:RIAN archive 476349 Pacific Fleet naval infantry.jpg|upright|thumb|A PT-76 amphibious tank leaving a Project 775 ship at the bow gate
The Ukrainian Navy's only ship of the class, Kostiantyn Olshansky, was seized by Russian troops and pressed into service with the Russian navy after their invasion and subsequent occupation of Crimea in March 2014.
In January 2022, prior to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the landing ships Korolyov,, Kaliningrad, Pyotr Morgunov, Georgy Pobedonosets, and Olenegorsky Gornyak from the Baltic and Northern fleets departed their bases and passed through the Dardanelles Strait for claimed exercises in the Black Sea.
In late March 2022, and were damaged in a Ukrainian attack in the port of Berdiansk. Tsezar Kunikovs commander, Captain of the 3rd rank Alexander Chirva, was reportedly killed in the strike. The ships were unable to return to active duty for several months due to lack of spare parts.
In early August 2023, Olenegorsky Gornyak was seriously damaged at the Black Sea Novorossiysk naval base after it was struck by a Ukrainian maritime drone carrying of TNT. The ship was pictured under tow, listing 40–50 degrees to port as tugboats worked to put it in a safe position.
On 13 September 2023, Russian military reported that the Sevastopol Shipyard had been struck by a Ukrainian missile attack, damaging Minsk and the Rostov-on-Don.
On 26 December 2023, Novocherkassk was struck by Ukrainian cruise missiles and destroyed. Satellite imagery and local photography taken after the strike showed that an exploded wreck was what remained of the ship.
On 14 February 2024, Tsezar Kunikov was reported sunk by several Ukrainian naval drones.
On 24 March 2024, the two remaining Ropucha-class landing ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were struck by cruise missiles while they were in port in Sevastopol. The Ukrainian general staff and open-source intelligence sources reported that both Yamal and Azov were hit. The recent satellite images did not reveal any damage, showing that the missile hit the pier next to the ship presumably due to the electronic warfare system.
On 26 March 2024, Ukraine claimed to have struck the Konstantin Olshansky with a Neptune missile without providing any direct confirmation. This vessel was seized from Ukraine in 2014, when Russian forces took control of the Crimean peninsula.

List of ships

Project	Name	Hull No.	Builders	Commissioned	Fleet	Status	Notes
775	BDK-47	134	Gdańsk Shipyard		Baltic Fleet	Decommissioned
775	BDK-48	094	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Decommissioned
775	BDK-63	083	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Decommissioned
775	BDK-90	058	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Decommissioned
775		012	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Not active	Being repaired in drydock after Ukrainian naval drone impact on 4 August 2023 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
775	BDK-181	083	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Decommissioned
775	Kondopoga	027	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Active as of 2024
775	Kotlas	035	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Decommissioned
775	BDK-197	093	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Decommissioned
775	BDK-200	011	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Decommissioned
775	Aleksandr Otrakovsky	031	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Active
775	BDK-119		Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Transferred to South Yemen in 1979, decommissioned in 2002 and converted to cargo ship Sam of Yemen, sunk in 2018.
775/II	BDK-14	070	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Decommissioned
775/II	Oslyabya	066	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Active as of 2025
775/II	BDK-105	125	Gdańsk Shipyard		Baltic Fleet	Decommissioned
775/II	Admiral Nevelskoy	055	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Active as of 2025
775/II	BDK-32	039	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Decommissioned
775/II		127	Gdańsk Shipyard		Baltic Fleet	Not active	Heavily damaged in Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol on 13 September 2023. Russian government announced that the ship will be restored.
775/II	Kaliningrad	102	Gdańsk Shipyard		Baltic Fleet	Deployed to the Black Sea and participating in the Russo-Ukraine War as of 2022
775/II	Georgy Pobedonosets	016	Gdańsk Shipyard		Northern Fleet	Deployed to the Black Sea and participating in the Russo-Ukraine War as of 2022
775/II		154	Gdańsk Shipyard		Black Sea Fleet	Not active	Transferred to Ukraine in 1996, captured March 2014 during the Russian invasion of Crimea. Reported hit by Ukrainian Neptune Missile on 26th of March, 2024.
775/II	Aleksandr Shabalin	110	Gdańsk Shipyard		Baltic Fleet	Active	Refitted in 2020-2024; active as of 2025
775/II		158	Gdańsk Shipyard		Black Sea Fleet	Reported sunk by Ukrainian sources	Damaged on in a Ukrainian attack in the port of Berdiansk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sunk by a Ukrainian naval drone attack on 14 February 2024.
775/II		142	Gdańsk Shipyard		Black Sea Fleet	Destroyed	Damaged on 24 March 2022 in a Ukrainian attack in the port of Berdiansk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Destroyed in a Ukrainian air strike on Feodosia on.
775/II	Yamal	156	Gdańsk Shipyard		Black Sea Fleet	Active
775M	Azov	151	Gdańsk Shipyard		Black Sea Fleet	Active
775M	Peresvet	077	Gdańsk Shipyard		Pacific Fleet	Active as of 2024
775M	Korolyov	130	Gdańsk Shipyard		Baltic Fleet	Deployed to the Black Sea and participating in the Russo-Ukraine War as of 2022