''Yuri Olefirenko'' ( uk, Юрій Олефіренко) is a mid-size Project 773 (

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

code: Polnocny-C)

landing ship An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crud ...

of the

Ukrainian Navy The Military Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Військо́во-морські́ си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни, ВМС ЗСУ) is the maritime forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Arme ...

. From her original commissioning in 1971 until the 2014

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...

, she was based in the Southern Naval Base at

Donuzlav Lake Donuzlav ( rus, Донузлав) also referred to as Donuzlav Bay is the deepest lakeOliferov, A.M. Donuzlav (ДОНУЗЛА́В)'. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. of Crimea () and biggest in Chornomorske Raion (). It is a protected landsca ...

. Since then ''Yuri Olefirenko'' was relocated to

Ochakiv Ochakiv, also known as Ochakov ( uk, Оча́ків, ; russian: Очаков; crh, Özü; ro, Oceacov and ''Vozia'', and Alektor ( in Greek), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the adminis ...

. She was reportedly captured by Russian forces during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

before being spotted still in active service on 3 June 2022.

Construction and career

Soviet service

The ship was built at Stocznia Północna ( pl) shipyard in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Poland in 1970 for the Soviet Navy and was numbered ''SDK-137''. SDK is a Russian abbreviation for a mid-size landing ship (russian: средний десантный корабль, Sredniy Desantnyi Korabl, SDK). Although officially the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

was not involved in the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

, ''SDK 137'' was part of the Soviet Mediterranean squadron that was in the area along with a marine infantry detachment loaded. The vessel's enlisted

starshina 1st stage 1st class (russian: Старшина́ пе́рвой статьи́, Starshiná pérvoy stat'í, lit=Older first article) is a rank used by the Russian Navy and a number of former communist state. The rank is a non-commissioned officer and i ...

P. Grinev downed one of the Israeli

F-4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

planes with the ship's AK-230 artillery system and was awarded for that the Order of Red Star.

Ukrainian service

As a result of the Soviet

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

division between Russian Black Sea Fleet and the

, in 1994 ''SDK 137'' was passed to the Ukrainian Navy and was renamed ''SKD Kirovohrad''. In 1996 it was commissioned and given the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

U-401 ''Kirovohrad''. In 1998–2002 ''Kirovohrad'' was repaired at the Metallist Ship Repair Factory in

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Crim ...

and once again in 2012–2013 at the

Black Sea Shipyard The Black Sea Shipyard ( uk, Чорноморський суднобудівний завод; russian: Черноморский судостроительный завод) is a shipbuilding facility in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on the southern tip of ...

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Southern Ukraine, the Administrative centre, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides U ...

. At the start of the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, on 21 March 2014 ''Kirovohrad'' was surrendered to unmarked Russian naval personnel at Lake

along with the minesweeper ''Chernihiv''. On 19 April 2014 the Russian military returned the ship along with the . In 2016 it was renamed again to U-401 ''Yuri Olefirenko'' in a memory of Ukrainian marine who perished during the

War in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

. In April 2022 the ship was claimed by Russian media to have again been captured by Russia at the port of

Berdyansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of ...

and that she may have been moved to

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

. However, on 3 June 2022 ''Yuri Olefirenko'' was spotted in Ukrainian control near Ochakiv, Ukraine under fire by Russian artillery. The ship is believed to have survived the strikes and that it had not been captured at Berdyansk as previously claimed by Russian media.

Gallery

File:(U401) Kirovohrad.png, former badge of ''Kirovohrad'' File:Президент присвоїв кораблю «Кіровоград» 11-ї бригади надводних кораблів ім’я Юрія Олефіренка.jpg, Renaming of the ship in 2016 File:Kozac'ka Volia, 2018, 42.jpg, 2018 training exercise

References

External links