- Category
- Latest news
A “Rescue Ship” or Putin’s New Yacht? Russia Launches Mysterious Vessel With Naval Looks
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia has commissioned a new large vessel formally assigned to the country’s Maritime Rescue Service, but industry experts and investigative journalists are questioning whether the ship’s real purpose is something far more exclusive, according to The Moscow Times on January 13.
The ship may in fact be a new yacht intended for Russian leader Vladimir Putin—carefully disguised to resemble a state service vessel.
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
The ship, known as Voevoda, entered service at the end of last year and was officially listed as part of Russia’s maritime emergency and rescue fleet, with operations assigned to the Baltic region.
On paper, the vessel is described as supporting search-and-rescue missions, emergency response, transport, and logistics. However, doubts about that mission have followed the ship since the earliest stages of its construction.
Russia’s Maritime Rescue Service has undergone several administrative restructurings in recent years, but its core mandate has remained unchanged: saving lives at sea and responding to environmental emergencies. The agency operates a fleet of roughly 80 vessels, including multipurpose ships, rescue tugs, diving vessels, and auxiliary craft. Against that backdrop, Voevoda stands out.
Designed by the St. Petersburg–based Northern Design Bureau, Project 23700 is markedly different from other rescue-service ships in both scale and layout.
Voevoda is an ocean-going vessel displacing about 7,500 tons, measuring 111 meters in length and 24 meters across, with a top speed of 22 knots and a range of up to 5,000 nautical miles. It can carry up to four small boats and two helicopters—capabilities that exceed what is typical for rescue operations in the region.
The construction contract was signed by Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade in December 2016, with keel-laying at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad in April 2017.
Although delivery was initially scheduled for November 2019, the project was repeatedly delayed. The ship was launched that same month but then spent nearly four years undergoing additional outfitting. Sea trials did not begin until December 2023 and continued for almost two years.
The Moscow Times notes that skepticism surrounding the vessel’s stated role emerged long before it entered service. As early as 2017, sources in the shipbuilding industry told the Russian business daily Kommersant that they doubted Voevoda would ever function primarily as a rescue ship, suggesting instead that it resembled a representational or VIP vessel.
Those suspicions deepened as details of the interior became public. According to documentation from the Yantar shipyard, the ship includes high-comfort accommodations more commonly associated with luxury yachts: eight residential cabins with separate bedrooms and private bathrooms, a conference hall, and a passenger lounge with a buffet area.
Industry observers also pointed out that the vessel lacks the heavy cranes and lifting equipment typically required for large-scale rescue operations, while its external appearance is closer to that of a yacht than a working emergency ship.
In 2019, Yantar announced a tender for comprehensive outfitting of the ship’s “enhanced comfort” spaces, with a starting contract value of approximately $2.9 million.
Alexander Bogdashevsky, director of the boatbuilding firm Ameta, has said the vessel’s layout resembles that of an expedition-style yacht.
While the exterior design stops short of a traditional superyacht aesthetic, he suggested that this restraint may have been intentional. At the time, he estimated the ship’s total cost at around €50 million.
Earlier, French intelligence services were investigating what officials describe as a potential attempt at hostile foreign interference after a sophisticated spying device was discovered aboard a passenger ferry operating in the Mediterranean, raising fears that the vessel’s critical systems could have been compromised.
-29ed98e0f248ee005bb84bfbf7f30adf.jpg)
-fb1e54e947b36389d3c8c9646e655f04.jpeg "Ukrainian Court Sentences Russian Soldier to 12 Years for Abducting Civilians in Chernihiv Region")
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")