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.

[4] The ninth of twelve Project 97A icebreakers was laid down at Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad on 30 June 1965, launched on 31 August 1965, and delivered to the Baltic Sea Shipping Company on 30 December 1965.

[4] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yuriy Lisyanskiy passed over to the successor state, Russia, and went through a number of ownership changes before ending up in Rosmorport's fleet.

[2] In January 2023, Rosmorport announced that it was looking for a company to dispose of the 1965-built icebreaker by 1 November 2023 and sell the resulting ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.