Based at Vladivostok, the ship travelled extensively in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, visiting a large number of friendly ports in Angola, Ethiopia, India, Mozambique and Yemen.

In 1978 and 1979, the vessel formed part of a Soviet flotilla, including the Project 68bis (NATO reporting name: 'Sverdlov'-class) cruiser Admiral Senyavin, that supported Vietnam in the aftermath of the Sino-Vietnamese War.

In 1982, Vasily Chapayev was allocated to support the BOR-4 spaceplane programme, and two years later, the vessel participated in a search for a US Navy submarine that was suspected of being near the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East.

[8] The Ka-25 helicopter embarked on the ship was also capable of aiding in the search and destruction of submarines, and as such it could carry depth charges and torpedoes.

[12] The vessel also had four 57 mm (2.2 in) AK-725 dual-purpose guns situated in two twin mountings, one on either side aft of the funnel to protect against surface and aerial threats.

[18] Completed on 30 November 1976 and Commissioned under the command of Captain 2nd Rank V. A. Sobgaida, the vessel was assigned to the Soviet Navy's Pacific Fleet.

A. Agadzhanov was transferred from Vladivostok to take command of the warship, which departed Leningrad in 1977 for the port that would be home for the rest of the ship's career.

The vessel subsequently visited Aden in South Yemen, Cienfuegos and Havana in Cuba, and Luanda, Angola, to contribute to friendly relationships between the host countries and the Soviet Union.

[20] In June 1978, Vasily Chapayev joined a fleet of Soviet warships, including the Project 68bis (NATO reporting name: 'Sverdlov' class) cruiser Admiral Senyavin and the Project 58 (NATO reporting name: 'Kynda' class) cruiser Admiral Fokin, to sail to Vietnam to promote peace after the Sino-Vietnamese War.

[19] In 1982, Vasily Chapayev was seconded to the search team under the Black Sea Fleet supporting the BOR-4 spaceplane, which was designed to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The submarine was subsequently tracked by air and sea until 5 October, but no contact was made between the belligerents and the event did not escalate into an international incident.

The Project 1134B Berkut B (NATO reporting name: 'Kara' class) cruiser Nikolayev and Vasily Chapayev acted as motherships for the operation, and on 5 October refuelled the smaller vessels of the flotilla in Aniva Bay.

[23] On 29 March 1985, Vasily Chapayev accompanied Nikolayev, Novorossiysk and a host of smaller vessels under the command of Vice-Admiral Rostislav Leonidovich Dymov for the Pacific Ocean to undertake a major exercise to test the joint operations capability within the Soviet armed forces.

The outcome of the test proved to the Soviet military leadership the value of co-ordinated attacks by aircraft, ships and submarines using long-range cruise missiles.

[24] Between 15 and 17 October 1986, the ship was involved in the first joint exercise between the Soviet Union and the Korean People's Navy, simulating an amphibious attack on Rason.

With the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the navy reassessed its need for a large fleet and decided to retire some of its larger and more expensive ships.