Fully laden, the vessels drew 5.35 metres (17.6 ft) of water and had a displacement of 2,935 tonnes (2,889 long tons).

Their three 1,800-horsepower (1,300 kW) 10-cylinder 13D100 two-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines were coupled to generators that powered electric propulsion motors driving two propellers in the stern and a third one in the bow.

Project 97A icebreakers were capable of breaking 70 to 75 centimetres (28 to 30 in) thick snow-covered ice at very slow but continuous speed.

The icebreaker was stationed in Arkhangelsk and operated primarily in the Northern Dvina estuary and the White Sea.

[2] Vasiliy Pronchishchev was taken out of service following a fire in January 1989 and sold for scrapping in Portugal later that year.