Vice-Admiral Kulakov was commissioned in December 1981 and was in service with the Soviet Northern Fleet until March 1991, when she was retired for repairs that lasted more than 18 years.

[4] In July 2012, Vice-Admiral Kulakov led a flotilla of the Northern Fleet to the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct naval drills, close to the Syrian coast.

[7] In 2016, she was sent to the eastern Mediterranean, to back the air campaign in Syria and fly the flag [8] In March 2016, as she and supporting Russian ships entered the United Kingdom's exclusive economic zone, they were intercepted and escorted by the British frigate HMS Somerset.

[12] Accompanied by tanker Akademik Pashin and tug Altay, she then entered the Mediterranean Sea and paid several port visits.

[18] In 2021, Vice-Admiral Kulakov was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and, afterwards, the Gulf of Guinea along with tanker Akademik Pashin and tug Altay, where on 25 October, the destroyer freed the container ship Lucia sailing under Panamanian flag from Togo to Cameroon that came under attack of pirates.