On 3 December, the Bangladesh Liberation War was followed by an outbreak of war between India, supported by the Soviet Union and Pakistan, supported by the United States. The conflict quickly involved naval vessels, with the Indian Navy sinking the destroyer , minesweeper and MV "Venus Challenger" on 4 December in Operation Trident using Soviet-built P-15 Termit anti-ship missiles. Shortly afterwards on 9 December, the US-built submarine of the Pakistan Navy sank the Indian frigate , the submarine then disappearing in mysterious circumstances. The threat of further escalation and the intervention of the United States Navy led to the Soviet Union dispatching a substantial fleet to the Indian Ocean. "Vladivostok" joined "Varyag", "Strogiy" and other vessels under the command of dispatched on 13 December and remained on station until 6 March the following year. Following the success of the operation, the ship returned to Vladivostok. The ship was made open to the public during April 1972 and On 30 June, sailed on a tour with Minister of Defence Andrei Grechko, Admiral of the Fleet Sergey Gorshkov and other officials.