The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg in Russia to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn. The eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland belong to Russia, and some of Russia's most important oil harbors are located farthest in, near Saint Petersburg. As the seaway to Saint Petersburg, the Gulf of Finland has been and continues to be of considerable strategic importance to Russia. Some of the environmental problems affecting the Baltic Sea are at their most pronounced in the shallow gulf. Proposals for a tunnel through the gulf have been made.
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of 74 kilometres (46 mi), it is the fourth-largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge.
The Kirov class, Soviet designation Project 1144 Orlan, is a class of nuclear-powered guided-missile heavy cruisers of the Soviet Navy and Russian Navy, the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships in operation in the world. Among modern warships, they are second in size only to large aircraft carriers; they are similar in size to a World War I-era battleship. Defence commentators in the West often refer to these ships as battlecruisers – due to their size and general appearance. The Soviet classification of the ship-type is "heavy nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser".
Kirov, formerly known as Vyatka until 1934 and as Khlynov (Хлы́нов) from 1457 to 1780, is the largest city and administrative center of Kirov Oblast, Russia. It is situated on the Vyatka River in European Russia, 896 kilometres (557 mi) northeast of Moscow. Its population was 468,212 in 2021, up to roughly 750 thousand residents in the urban agglomeration.
St. Petersburg is a major trade gateway, financial and industrial center of Russia specialising in oil and gas trade, shipbuilding yards, aerospace industry, radio and electronics, software and computers; machine building, heavy machinery and transport, including tanks and other military equipment, mining, instrument manufacture, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, publishing and printing, food and catering, wholesale and retail, textile and apparel industries, and many other businesses.
The Kirov Islands or Sergey Kirov Islands is an island group in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation. It is an archipelago of small islands covered with tundra vegetation located about 140 km (87 mi) from the coast of Siberia and 100 km (62 mi) northwest of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago.
Dmitriy Furmanov class is a class of Russian river passenger ships, project 302, 302M, 302MK / German name BiFa129M.
The Zirka Dnipra is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Ukrainian river cruise ship, cruising in the Dnepr – Black Sea basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1988. Her home port is currently Kherson. Zirka Dnipra captain (2012) was Vladimir Bilenko.
The Dmitriy Furmanov is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1983. The ship is named after the famous Bolshevik commissar and writer of the book Chapayev about Vasily Chapayev, a Red Army officer and a hero of the Civil War.
Sergey Yesenin class is a class of Russian river passenger ships. It is named after Sergei Yesenin.
Elbewerft Boizenburg was a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Boizenburg. Since 1990 it has been part of the Deutschen Maschinen- und Schiffbau AG.
The Aleksandra is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Ukrainian/Kazakh/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Neva – Volga – Don – Dnepr – Black Sea basin, from Nesebar on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and Constanța to Saint Petersburg on the Baltic Sea in Russia, and since November 2010 hotelship in the Kurmangazy oil field in the Kazakh section of the Caspian Sea. The ship was built by Elbewerft Boizenburg at their shipyard in Boizenburg, Germany, named after Ukrainian painter and poet Taras Shevchenko and entered service in 1991. Her home port is currently Rostov-on-Don.
The Sergey Kuchkin is a Valerian Kuybyshev-class(92-016, OL400) Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga basin. The ship was built by Slovenské Lodenice at their shipyard in Komárno, Czechoslovakia, and entered service in 1979. At 3,950 tonnes, Sergey Kuchkin is one of the world's biggest river cruise ships. Her sister ships are Valerian Kuybyshev, Mikhail Frunze, Feliks Dzerzhinskiy, Fyodor Shalyapin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Aleksandr Suvorov, Semyon Budyonnyy and Georgiy Zhukov. Sergey Kuchkin is currently operated by Vodohod, a Russian river cruise line. Her home port is currently Nizhny Novgorod.
The Xian Ni is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Chinese river cruise ship, cruising on the Yangtze River. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1994. Her home port is currently Nantong.
The Zosima Shashkov is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin between Russian old and new capitals: Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1986. She was refurbished in 2012. Zosima Shashkov is currently operated by Vodohod, a Russian river cruise line, and her home port is Nizhny Novgorod. The ship is named after the Bolshevik commissar and minister of the Sea and River Fleet of the USSR Zosima Alekseyevich Shashkov.
The Volga Star is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1983. From 2011 to February 2019 the ship was named after Russian, and later French and American, composer, pianist and conductor Igor Stravinsky.
The Sergey Dyagilev is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1983. The ship is named after Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes Sergei Diaghilev.
The Viking Helgi is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1984 as Aleksey Surkov being renamed after Oleg of Novgorod in its Scandinavian version Helgi in 2012.
The Konstantin Simonov is a Dmitriy Furmanov-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1984. The ship is named after Soviet writer and poet Konstantin Simonov.
The Tikhiy Don is a Vladimir Ilyich-class Soviet/Russian river cruise ship, cruising in the Volga – Neva basin. The ship was built by VEB Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau at their shipyard in Boizenburg, East Germany, and entered service in 1977. 2004–2015 owned and operated by Grand Circle Cruise Line. Her home port is currently Rostov-on-Don.
East Germany 
