Direct proof of use
The Project 1124 Albatros / Grisha-class record in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War is centered on Ukrainian Navy Grisha-family ships during Russia's seizure of Crimea, not on confirmed anti-submarine or gunfire combat by the class. Associated Press reporting from March 3, 2014 said four Russian naval ships in Sevastopol harbor were blocking the Ukrainian anti-submarine warship Ternopil and the command ship Slavutych from leaving the dock.
On March 20, 2014, Interfax-Ukraine quoted Ukrainian defense adviser Leonid Poliakov saying Russian military personnel had thrown grenades from a Russian Black Sea Fleet tug onto Ternopil's deck, causing damage. RussianShips.info's Project 1124 ship list records both the Project 1124MU corvettes Lutsk and Ternopil as captured during the annexation of Crimea.
Sources: Global News/AP Ternopil Blockade, KyivPost/Interfax Ternopil Damage, RussianShips Project 1124 Ship List
Narrative
Ternopil and Lutsk were Ukrainian Project 1124MU / Grisha V anti-submarine corvettes, a late branch of the Soviet Project 1124 family. During the first Crimea phase of the war, the ships' documented role was as Ukrainian naval assets trapped in Russian-controlled port conditions and then seized, rather than as ships shown conducting ASW patrols or firing their own weapons in battle.
The later Russian use of Ternopil was different: by July 2023, the captured ship was no longer a Ukrainian combatant. TWZ reported that Russia's Black Sea Fleet destroyed a target vessel captured from Ukraine in 2014 and identified the target as Ternopil, while SeaWaves reported that Russian Ministry of Defense video showed the captured Ukrainian corvette being hit during training firing in the northwestern Black Sea.
Sources: RussianShips Project 1124 Ship List, TWZ Ternopil Target Ship, SeaWaves Ternopil SINKEX
