The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) asserted on 3 August 2025 that its intelligence specialists have obtained top secret documentation related to Russia’s latest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).
The Project 955A Borey-A-class SSBN Knyaz Pozharsky (K-555) was commissioned into the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet as part of the 31st Submarine Division on 24 July 2025, in a ceremony at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Publishing detailed documents to back up its claim, the GUR said it had obtained numerous details relating to the operation of Knyaz Pozharsky (and by extension its seven Project 955/955A sister boats), including:
- name lists of the submarine crew, including data on positions, qualifications and level of physical training;
- combat instructions for the crew;
- the combat scheme of the ship, as well as schemes of systems to ensure the survivability and organisational structure of the crew;
- crew regulations in cabins and cockpits, instructions for transferring wounded and cargo, procedures for towing and other job instructions;
- engineering documentation, in particular a report on the investigation of a deformed radio beacon indicating the members of the commission and enterprises that participated in the investigation;
- an extract from the submarine’s schedule book: a “voluminous document [that] regulates the daily combat and everyday work of the vessel”.
“The Project 955A Borei-A submarines are a key element of the Kremlin’s so-called nuclear triad,” the GUR noted. “The submarines have 16 launch pods for R-30 Bulava-30 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each of which can carry up to 10 warheads.”
The GUR added that the information obtained by its intelligence officers “allows us to identify the features and technical limitations of not only the Prince Pozharsky, but also other Project 955A submarines, which are critically important for supporting the imperial myth of the aggressor state of Russia.”
Russia’s Borei-class SSBNs, which are 170 m long and displace 23,621 tonnes submerged, are the first Russian nuclear submarines to use a pump-jet propulsion system, leading a report by the Russian state news service TASS to claim that their noise level is five times lower compared to Russia’s third-generation Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, which first entered service in 1986.
