Project 68-bis cruiser Dmitry Pozharsky was laid down in Leningrad at Ordzhonikidze Shipyard No. 189 in February 1952. The ship was launched in June 1953 and commissioned in December 1954. In February 1955, she was assigned to the Northern Fleet, but during the summer of the same year, the cruiser headed for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to join the 14th Cruiser Division of the Pacific Fleet. In 1961, Dmitry Pozharsky joined the 9th Division of ASW Ships, and from 1967, she was on active duty within the 10th Tactical Squadron permanently operating in the Indian Ocean.