[3] Electricity was provided by a TD-760 driven off steam drawn from the main boilers which powered a 380 V AC circuit at a frequency of 50 Hz.

[7] The ship was equipped with an aft landing pad and hangar for a ranging Kamov Ka-25 helicopter, the first installed on a Soviet cruiser.

The ship underwent extensive modernisation between 1985 and 1991, including the addition of four AK-630 close-in weapon systems, with their attendant fire control radars, installed near the bridge to improve anti-missile defence.

[9] Admiral Zozulya was approved by Nikita Khrushchev as part of Sergey Gorshkov's buildup of the Soviet Navy.

[12] Admiral Zozulya began testing on 15 February 1967, covering 15,615 nautical miles (28,919 km) in 995 running hours, and was completed on 8 October 1967.

Between 1 June and 1 December 1975, the vessel undertook operations in the Mediterranean and Atlantic with Admiral Isakov, during which the Ka-25 helicopter crashed, with a single fatality, on 11 September.

[13] On 3 August 1978, the vessel was renamed a Large Rocket Ship (Russian: Ракетные крейсера проекта, RKR).