Petropavlovsk was part of the seven-ship unit of the Nikolaev type (project 1134B Berkut), which was a gas-turbine alternative design to the units of the project 1134A. They were classified as large ASW (anti-submarine warfare), although they matched cruisers in size. The primary task of these ships was to search and destroy nuclear submarines in the oceanic zone, in particular, strategic missile submarines.
Due to the requirement of high autonomy...