Direct proof of use
The documented Project 11711 ship in the war is Pyotr Morgunov, an Ivan Gren-class landing ship of the Russian Navy. Naval News reported on 8 February 2022 that the vessel was expected to pass into the Black Sea with a Russian amphibious group, and USNI News reported the next day that Pyotr Morgunov had transited the Bosporus with two Ropucha-class landing ships.
By the opening day of the full-scale invasion, USNI News listed Pyotr Morgunov among the amphibious ships Russia had brought into the Black Sea from the Northern and Baltic fleets. USNI News also reported that Russia's navy was then acting largely in a supporting role and that Russian amphibious ships had not been used for landing operations in the initial phase.
The clearest later use claim is logistics. Naval News reported in January 2023 that Pyotr Morgunov had recently carried supplies from Russia to Sevastopol after the October 2022 attack on the Kerch Bridge, with Russian landing ships pressed into transport service while bridge capacity was limited.
Sources: Naval News February 2022 Black Sea Entry, USNI February 2022 Amphibs Enter Black Sea, USNI Initial Invasion Naval Role, Naval News January 2023 Black Sea Surge
Timeline
The public record places Pyotr Morgunov in the Black Sea immediately before the full-scale invasion, then connects the ship to wartime transport activity after the Kerch Bridge attack. The available sources support deployment and logistics use; they do not identify Pyotr Morgunov as one of the landing ships used in a specific troop landing.
On 8-9 February 2022, Naval News and USNI News tracked the Ivan Gren-class ship entering the Black Sea with a Russian amphibious group. On 24 February 2022, USNI News described Russia's Black Sea amphibious force as a supporting naval element of the invasion. On 11 January 2023, Naval News reported Pyotr Morgunov leaving Novorossiysk during a surge of Russian naval activity and noted recent supply carriage to Sevastopol.
Sources: Naval News February 2022 Black Sea Entry, USNI February 2022 Amphibs Enter Black Sea, USNI Initial Invasion Naval Role, Naval News January 2023 Black Sea Surge
Narrative
Pyotr Morgunov entered the Black Sea as part of Russia's pre-invasion amphibious buildup rather than as an isolated ship movement. The reinforcement brought additional landing-ship capacity into the theater, and the Ivan Gren-class vessel was the largest and most modern landing ship in that reinforcement package.
During the opening phase of the invasion, the ship's role is best described as theater amphibious lift held in support of Russian operations. USNI News reported that Russia had assembled amphibious task forces near Crimea and the Sea of Azov, but it also cited a U.S. defense official saying there was no evidence of amphibious landing operations by those ships at the start of the invasion.
As the war continued, landing ships also served a transport role. Naval News connected Pyotr Morgunov to supply carriage between Russia and Sevastopol after the Kerch Bridge attack, a use consistent with the class's ability to carry troops, vehicles, and cargo. That logistics record is stronger than any public claim of a confirmed combat landing by this class in Ukraine.
Sources: Naval News February 2022 Black Sea Entry, USNI Initial Invasion Naval Role, Naval News January 2023 Black Sea Surge
