[1] The patrol ship variant, Project 97P (Russian: 97П), was developed as a response to the renewed interest of the Soviet Navy and Soviet Border Troops on icebreaking patrol vessels after United States Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers began appearing more frequently near the country's northern maritime borders.

Fully laden, the vessels draw 6.5 metres (21.3 ft) of water and have a displacement of 3,710 tonnes (3,650 long tons).

Their three 1,800-horsepower (1,300 kW) 10-cylinder 13D100 two-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines are coupled to generators that power electric propulsion motors driving two propellers in the stern.

[1] The fourth of eight Project 97P patrol ships was laid down at Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad on 16 July 1975, launched on 14 February 1976, and delivered on 30 September 1976.

The ship entered service with the maritime unit of the KGB Border Troops and sailed to its home port, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Russian Far East, through the Northern Sea Route.