After France cancelled the delivery of a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship in 2015, Russia decided to address the need for the navy with domestic sources.

According to Russian military sources, Moscow has signed a contract to build two new amphibious assault ships and work will begin next week.  Nevsky Design Bureau runs the UDC 23900 Surf project.  The value of the ships stated to be built at Zaliv Shipyard in Kerch is about 100 billion Rubles.

In 2011, the Kremlin reached an agreement with France worth €1.2 billion for two Mistral. This agreement was cancelled because Russia invaded Crimea.  The two Mistral were sold to Egypt for about 850 million Euros.