According to the Tass agency, citing two anonymous sources belonging to the Russian naval defense industry, the work concerning the construction of 2 assault helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy should begin in 2020, with the ships due to be delivered in 2027. The additional information cited is very limited, except that the vessels would weigh 15.000 tonnes, which effectively eliminates the possibility of an elongated Ivan Grene type LST, and would tend to say that it would be a building derived from the Priboy Model, presented numerous times in exhibitions by the Krylov design offices since 2015, and the French refusal to deliver the 2 Mistral buildings to Russia following to the annexation of Crimea.
The ships will be built, again according to the same sources, by the Zaliv shipyards in Kerch in Crimea, which has a 300-meter dry dock that can accommodate ships 50 m wide. Other information tends to favor the Priboy hypothesis, such as the 16 helicopters on board and the capacity to transport up to 1000 men, which corresponds to the data provided by Krylov about its design.
In the absence of official announcements from the Kremlin or the Ministry of Defense, these statements must be taken with caution. Like the Shtorm aircraft carrier, this is not the first time that the construction of the Russian "Mistral" has been announced as imminent, and Russian industrialists often tend to present the current negotiations as certainties, which is what they rarely are. Let us remember that the French authorities had barely formalized the cancellation of the delivery of the 2 Mistrals to Russia, when the Russian media announced the construction of a class of identical buildings, based on the plans of the Mistrals in their possession. Certain French deputies, very (too) close to the Russian authorities, went on television to explain that Russia had ordered the Mistrals from France to save STX, and that Russian industry had all the capabilities to produce its own LHDs itself. , more efficient, and within very short deadlines.
5 years later, it is clear that nothing has yet been done. And for good reason ! Russia did not have, until recently, the industrial capacity to produce such a 15.000 ton combat vessel, with the notable exception of submarines. The Russian naval industry suffered the full brunt of the consequences of the end of the Soviet bloc, losing part of its industrial tools and its know-how located particularly in Ukraine. The shipyards did not undergo any modernization until 2015, when a plan aimed at restoring the country to a modern naval industry was launched by the Kremlin. This plan is now producing its effects, and this announcement of the (probable) construction of 2 LHDs therefore appears to be the announcement of the return of Russian industry to the heavy naval industry.
However, we will have to wait for the official launch of the work to assess the effectiveness of this modernization plan, which will also condition the construction of the new classes of Lider heavy destroyers, and a possible new aircraft carrier.
Updated 12/09/2019 : The precautions taken regarding these declarations, the director of Russian shipbuilding having brought an almost immediate denial of these statements. However, other information converges towards the credibility of the announcement made.