Direct proof of use
Russian Project 1171/Alligator-class landing ships were documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War as amphibious logistics vessels during the 2022 full-scale invasion. USNI News reported that a Russian Alligator-class landing ship was attacked at occupied Berdyansk and later confirmed by satellite imagery and a senior U.S. defense official as sunk pierside.
The same reporting described the ship as part of Russian resupply activity for operations around Mariupol. GlobalSecurity's 2022 loss summary also tied Project 1171 vessels at Berdyansk to delivery of military equipment and ammunition through the occupied Sea of Azov port.
Sources: USNI Satellite Confirmation, GlobalSecurity Project 1171 2022 Losses
Timeline
On 21 March 2022, Russian state media presented the Project 1171 ship Orsk unloading armored personnel carriers at Berdyansk, framing the occupied port as a logistics route for Russian forces. Three days later, Ukrainian officials said an Alligator-class ship had been destroyed there, while early reports still identified the ship as Orsk.
On 25 March 2022, USNI News reported Maxar satellite imagery showing the Alligator-class vessel underwater at the pier, with damage to nearby fires and two Ropucha-class landing ships departing while fighting fires. Ukrinform, citing Ukraine's General Staff, later corrected the destroyed ship's identity to Saratov.
Sources: USNI Destroyed in Port, USNI Satellite Confirmation, Ukrinform Saratov Correction, GlobalSecurity Project 1171 2022 Losses
Narrative
Project 1171 ships are large landing ships built to move vehicles, troops, and cargo, and their conflict use in 2022 centered on sea transport rather than an opposed beach landing. At Berdyansk, Russian forces used the captured port infrastructure to unload armored vehicles and supplies from landing ships, taking advantage of a hard quay on the Sea of Azov close to the Mariupol front.
The Berdyansk attack showed the vulnerability of using landing ships as fixed logistics nodes inside a contested port. USNI News reported that the Alligator-class ship sank at the pier and that a U.S. defense official would not identify the Ukrainian weapon used, leaving the exact strike method publicly unresolved in the direct confirmation.
Sources: USNI Satellite Confirmation, GlobalSecurity Project 1171 2022 Losses, KCHF Saratov Profile
