Direct proof of use
Project 775/Ropucha-class landing ships are documented in Russian service during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War from the pre-invasion Black Sea buildup onward. USNI News reported that Ropucha-class tank landing ships Minsk, Korolev, and Kaliningrad entered the Black Sea on February 8, 2022, and that Olenegorsky Gornyak and Georgy Pobedonosets followed on February 9 as Russia concentrated amphibious forces around Ukraine.
During the opening phase of the full-scale invasion, USNI News described Russian amphibious task forces in the Black Sea and noted that the Kremlin had moved additional landing ships into the theater to join Black Sea Fleet vessels already present. In March 2022, USNI reported that Russian amphibious ships, including Ropucha-class tank landing ships, were part of naval activity off southern Ukraine and that no Black Sea amphibious landing had yet occurred.
The later record is strongest for transport and logistics use, plus Ukrainian attacks against the ships. Naval News reported that the Ropucha-class Minsk was hit in Sevastopol in September 2023 and described the class as important for Russian Black Sea logistics. Ukrainian and international reporting then documented Ukrainian strikes on Olenegorsky Gornyak, Novocherkassk, and Tsezar Kunikov between August 2023 and February 2024.
Sources: USNI Amphibious Group Enters Black Sea, USNI Three More Amphibs Enter Black Sea, USNI Limited Role Initial Invasion, USNI Warships Shelling Near Odesa, Naval News Sevastopol Attack, Reuters Olenegorsky Gornyak Damaged, USNI Novocherkassk Strike, RFE/RL Novocherkassk Destroyed, Ukraine MoD Sinking Fleet, Reuters Tsezar Kunikov Destroyed
Timeline
The clearest sequence begins immediately before Russia's full-scale invasion. On February 8-9, 2022, USNI News tracked five Ropucha-class ships entering the Black Sea from the Baltic and Northern fleets, adding to the Russian amphibious force already available around Ukraine.
In March 2022, Russian landing ships were still part of the Odesa-area threat picture. USNI reported a Russian amphibious group and other combatants off southern Ukraine, while noting that Russian forces had landed troops on the Sea of Azov coast but had not executed a Black Sea amphibious landing.
From 2023 into 2024, Ukrainian strikes shifted the record from threat and transport use to attrition. Reuters-syndicated reporting said Olenegorsky Gornyak was damaged by a Ukrainian sea-drone attack near Novorossiysk in August 2023; Naval News reported Minsk hit in Sevastopol in September; USNI and RFE/RL reported the December 2023 strike on Novocherkassk at Feodosia; and Ukraine's Ministry of Defence and Reuters-syndicated reporting identified Tsezar Kunikov as destroyed near Crimea in February 2024.
Sources: USNI Amphibious Group Enters Black Sea, USNI Three More Amphibs Enter Black Sea, USNI Warships Shelling Near Odesa, Reuters Olenegorsky Gornyak Damaged, Naval News Sevastopol Attack, USNI Novocherkassk Strike, RFE/RL Novocherkassk Destroyed, Ukraine MoD Sinking Fleet, Reuters Tsezar Kunikov Destroyed
Operational role
The supported role in this conflict is Russian mobility and logistics at sea, backed by an amphibious threat rather than a confirmed opposed landing by the class in the Black Sea. USNI's February and March 2022 reporting places Ropucha-class vessels in the Russian amphibious force around Ukraine and describes their capacity to land tanks and troops, while also recording that the expected Black Sea landing did not occur during the reporting period.
As the war developed, the ships became valuable because they could move military cargo, personnel, and vehicles around the Black Sea and occupied Crimea. Naval News described Minsk and other landing ships as logistics assets, and Ukraine's Ministry of Defence later described Tsezar Kunikov as a Project 775 ship used as a military-cargo transport before its destruction.
The sources do not establish a documented Project 775 beach assault in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. They do support a narrower and well-corroborated record: Russia fielded the class in the Black Sea amphibious force, used class members for transport and logistics, and lost or had damaged several ships to Ukrainian missile and uncrewed-surface-vessel attacks.
Sources: USNI Amphibious Group Enters Black Sea, USNI Three More Amphibs Enter Black Sea, USNI Limited Role Initial Invasion, USNI Warships Shelling Near Odesa, Naval News Sevastopol Attack, Ukraine MoD Sinking Fleet
