They were a missile armed version of the Kotlin-class destroyer, and the class was named for Kildin Island.
Four ships were built around the KSShch (КСЩ, SS-N-1) anti-ship missile.
When this missile became obsolete in the 1960s, three ships were modernised in 1972-1977.
All ships were decommissioned in the late 1980s early 1990s.
The Kotlin-class hull and machinery were retained, A rail SSM launcher was fitted at the stern and the forward 130mm gun was replaced by two quad 57mm anti aircraft guns (45mm in Bedovy).