Vinnytsia

Vinnytsia (U206) was an anti-submarine corvette of the Ukrainian Navy. Prior to joining the Ukrainian Navy she was a former KGB Border Guard patrol ship named Dnepr. In March 2014, she was seized by Russian soldiers and de facto came under control of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The ship was returned to the Ukrainian Navy from Crimea on 19 April 2014. Class and role Vinnytsia was a 1124P project corvette (NATO reporting name: Grisha II class, Soviet classification: Albatros class ). In Soviet service she was designated as a Border Guard Patrol Ship, modified versions of the naval Small Anti-Submarine Ship design. The Grisha-class anti-submarine ships were designed to search for and destroy enemy submarines found in coastal areas. They were equipped with a variety of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapons. All were fitted with retractable fin stabilizers. The Grisha II class were modified variants built for the border guard between 1972 and 1983. These ships had a second gun mounting replacing the SA-N-4 missile system forward. Service The corvette Dnepr was laid down on 23 December 1975 at the Zelenodolsk Shipyard, Zelenodolsk, Republic of Tatarstan. The ship was launched on 17 June 1976. The corvette was moved from Zelenodol'sk to the Sea of Azov along the Volga and Don. The corvette was initially based at Sevastopol for trials.