The displacement stated varied between 66,000–79,000 tonnes (65,000–78,000 long tons), and their speed was said to be anything between 28 and 33 knots. The main armament was normally said to be twelve 410 millimetres (16 in) guns, though sometimes nine 460 millimetres (18 in) guns were alleged.

The names assigned to the class were said to be Strana Sovetov, Sovetskaya Byelorussia, Krasnaya Bessarabiya, Krasnaya Sibir, Sovietskaya Konstitutsia, Lenin and Sovetsky Soyuz. Many of the names were re-used from units of the authentic, but never completed, Sovetsky Soyuz class which were under construction when World War II broke out.