The Vanya class were a group of minesweepers

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

 built for the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 between 1960 and 1973. The Soviet Designation was Project 257

Design

The ships were designed as coastal mine hunters. The hulls were built out of wood for significantly reduced magnetic signature. Measures were also taken to reduce electrical and acoustic signature. The propellers were fitted without bubble shields. A more advanced version the Project 257DM was introduced in the mid-1960s. The Project 699 was a version with more powerful diesel engines for towing heavier sweeps.

Exports

• Bulgaria
  Bulgarian Navy
  The Bulgarian Navy is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults...
  
   - 7 ships (1969–1980)
• Syria
  Syrian Navy
  The Syrian Navy is the smallest of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is under the Syrian Army's Latakia regional command with the fleet based in the ports of Baniyas, Latakia, Minat al Bayda, and Tartus.- History :...
  
  - 2 ships (1972)

All ships were retired by the mid-1990s