Direct proof of use
The Alexandrit-class / Project 12700 record in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War is tied to the Russian Baltic Fleet minesweeper Aleksandr Obukhov. Ukraine's Defence Intelligence said on October 7, 2024 that the vessel had been based at Baltiysk and was being prepared for combat duty when it was disabled and sent for major repairs.
Defense Express identified Aleksandr Obukhov as a Russian Project 12700 Alexandrit-class base minesweeper and reported the same Ukrainian intelligence claim. The Maritime Executive also described Obukhov as the first ship of the Project 12700 Alexandrit-class design and placed the incident hundreds of miles from Ukrainian territory, in the Baltic Sea area rather than the Black Sea theater.
Sources: DIU Telegram Obukhov, Defense Express Obukhov, Maritime Executive Obukhov
Timeline
Aleksandr Obukhov entered Russian Navy service before the full-scale phase of the war. RussianShips.info records the lead ship of Project 12700 as laid down in September 2011 and commissioned on December 9, 2016, with Baltic Fleet assignment.
The conflict-specific milestone came on October 7, 2024, when Ukraine's Defence Intelligence reported the ship disabled at Baltiysk. Ukrainian and maritime reporting said water entered the engine through damage to the exhaust or gas-duct path, leaving the ship in need of major repair.
Sources: RussianShips Project 12700, DIU Telegram Obukhov, RBC Ukraine Obukhov, Maritime Executive Obukhov
Role in the conflict
Project 12700 is a mine-countermeasure ship class, so its relevant military role is fleet access, port and water-area safety, and force protection rather than land attack. Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard describes the class as intended to detect and destroy sea mines in water areas and on the seabed without entering the danger area, using trawls and remotely operated or autonomous underwater vehicles.
The sources for this conflict page do not show Aleksandr Obukhov clearing mines in Ukrainian waters or conducting a specific combat mine-countermeasure mission. They support the narrower claim that Russia fielded a Project 12700 Baltic Fleet minesweeper during the war and that Ukrainian intelligence claimed to have disabled it before a planned combat-duty period.
The incident broadened the naval attrition record beyond the Black Sea. The Maritime Executive described it as the second Baltic Fleet vessel Ukraine's GUR claimed to have damaged by covert methods in 2024, after the Serpukhov missile corvette episode.
Sources: Sredne-Nevsky Georgiy Kurbatov, DIU Telegram Obukhov, Maritime Executive Obukhov, Defense Express Obukhov
