When loaded to the maximum draught of 6.82 metres (22 ft), the icebreaker has a displacement of 8,154 tonnes (8,025 long tons),[5] about 30 % greater than that of the non-rebuilt 6,200-tonne (6,100-long-ton) sister ships.

[12] In order to protect the main engines from large torque variations during icebreaking operations and to prevent the propellers from stopping when the blades come in contact with ice, each shaft has a 11.5-tonne (11.3-long-ton; 12.7-short-ton) flywheel to increase rotational inertia of the drivetrain.

In the new icebreakers, this fairly expensive specialized drivetrain would be replaced with cheaper and more efficient mechanical transmission where the main diesel engines would be connected to controllable pitch propellers through a reduction gearbox.

An extensive research program was initiated by Wärtsilä Arctic Design and Marketing (WADAM) to ensure that the new concept was viable and that the problems encountered the recently commissioned United States Coast Guard Polar-class icebreakers would be avoided.

[13][17] In April 1980, Wärtsilä and the Soviet Union signed a FIM 400 million shipbuilding contract for the construction of three icebreakers to escort ships in the freezing subarctic ports.

[9] The pontoon-shaped bow, which broke ice by shearing instead of traditional bending, had been previously tested in the early 1980s on the 55-metre (180 ft) German icebreaker Max Waldeck.

[4] On 17 November 2013, Mudyug's lifeboat was destroyed when a strong gust of wind pushed the passenger ferry Princess Maria against the docked icebreaker.