Ropucha-class landing ship

The Ropucha class is a Soviet-designed tank landing ship built in Poland, combining beach-landing ramps and heavy vehicle lift with a secondary role as an armed military transport.

Overview

The Ropucha class is the NATO reporting name for the Soviet Project 775 large landing ship, or BDK (bolshoy desantny korabl). Built in Poland for the Soviet Navy, the class uses bow and stern ramps connected by a through vehicle deck, allowing tanks, armored vehicles, troops and cargo to be loaded in port or discharged directly onto a suitable beach. It has no flight deck or helicopter facilities.

Twenty-eight ships were built between 1974 and 1991, including three improved Project 775M vessels. Most surviving hulls passed to the Russian Navy after the Soviet Union dissolved, and the type has remained an important part of Russia's amphibious fleet across the Black Sea, Baltic, Northern and Pacific fleets. The exact number currently operational is not publicly established.

Although conceived for amphibious assault, the ships' most consequential recent role has been military logistics. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Black Sea Fleet Ropuchas have carried vehicles, ammunition and other cargo between Novorossiysk, occupied Crimea and ports on the Sea of Azov. Their limited speed and defensive systems, combined with repeated use of predictable ports and routes, have exposed them to Ukrainian cruise missiles and explosive uncrewed surface vessels. Visually confirmed wartime losses include Novocherkassk and Tsezar Kunikov, while Minsk has been assessed as damaged beyond economical repair by the open-source loss tracker Oryx.

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