Russian ship Tsezar Kunikov

Tsezar Kunikov in the Red Sea, 2003
History
Russia
Name	Tsezar Kunikov
Namesake	Tsezar Kunikov
Builder	Stocznia Północna, Gdańsk, Poland[1]
Commissioned	30 October 1986[1]
Homeport	Sevastopol
Fate	Sunk on 14 February 2024
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Ropucha-class landing ship
Displacement	2,768 long tons (2,812 t) standard 4,012 long tons (4,076 t) full load
Length	112.5 m (369 ft 1 in)
Beam	15.01 m (49 ft 3 in)
Draught	4.26 m (14 ft 0 in)
Ramps	Over bows and at stern
Installed power	3 × 750 kW (1,006 hp) diesel generators
Propulsion	2 × 9,600 hp (7,159 kW) Zgoda-Sulzer 16ZVB40/48 diesel engines
Speed	17.59 knots (32.58 km/h; 20.24 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Endurance	30 days
Capacity	10 × main battle tanks and 340 troops or 12 × BTR APC and 340 troops or 3 × main battle tanks, 3 × 2S9 Nona-S SPG, 5 × MT-LB APC, 4 trucks and 313 troops or 500 tons of cargo
Complement	98
Armament	2 × AK-725 twin 57 mm (2.2 in) DP guns 4 × 8 Strela 2 SAM launchers 2 × 22 A-215 Grad-M rocket launchers
Service record
Part of:	Black Sea Fleet 197th Landing Ship Brigade[2]

Tsezar Kunikov (BDK-64) (Russian: «Цезарь Куников» (БДК-64); NATO reporting name: Ropucha-I-class), sometimes anglicised as Caesar Kunikov, was a Project 775, large landing ship of the Russian Navy. The ship was built in Polish People's Republic, launched in 1986 and named after Soviet Naval Infantry officer Tsezar Kunikov. As part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, it took part in the KFOR mission, the Russo-Georgian War, the Syrian Civil War, and the Russo-Ukrainian War.

On 14 February 2024, the Ukrainian military announced its forces had hit the ship with several unmanned surface vehicles (USV) while it was off Crimea, which they say caused it to sink.^[3] The sinking of the ship has been confirmed by Russian sources.^{[3][failed verification]}