Unsatisfied with their domestically built Leningrad-class destroyer leader, The Soviet Navy sought foreign assistance to help them build a new destroyer. The Italian company Odero-Terni-Orlando (OTO) took on that challenge to build a big destroyer to serve as Soviet Navy Flotilla Leader. This ship would later be the most powerful destroyer the Soviet Navy had during WW2 and would later serve as a reference for future Soviet destroyers.

When the Soviet Navy needed to replace their aging Svetlana-class and Admiral Nakhimov-class cruisers, they recognized a lack of expertise and infrastructure to construct large cruisers independently. As a result, they sought foreign assistance to design and build a new light cruiser. This new vessel would later serve as an influential model for Soviet shipbuilders to develop more advanced cruisers in the future.