The ship was built in Polish People's Republic, launched in 1986 and named after Soviet Naval Infantry officer Tsezar Kunikov.

On 14 February 2024, the Ukrainian military announced its forces had hit the ship with several unmanned surface vehicles (USV) while it was off Crimea, which they say caused it to sink.

In 1999 she and three other Black Sea Fleet landing ships were used for deployment of the Russian contingent on the KFOR mission in Kosovo.

[11] Video of the incident showed the Tsezar Kunikov and Novocherkassk retreating from the port soon after the attack; one of the ships' forecastles was on fire,[12] although it is unclear which.

[14][15] On 24 August 2022 it was reported that Tsezar Kunikov and Novocherkassk were out of action due to lack of spare parts to repair the ships.

[3] On 14 February 2024, Ukrainian Armed Forces released a statement through Telegram that they had attacked the Tsezar Kunikov using MAGURA V5 unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) while the ship was off Alupka in Crimea.

[17][5] In the statement, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine said, "Tsezar Kunikov received a critical breach on the port side and started sinking.