The troubled legacy of Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov

Countries & Cities · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Launched in 1985, the Admiral Kuznetsov was designed as a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser to support Soviet naval strategy. Despite its unique ski-jump flight deck and long-range cruise missiles, the vessel has spent more time in drydock than at sea, plagued by fires, accidents, and persistent mechanical failures.

Built at the Black Sea Shipyard in the Ukrainian SSR, the Admiral Kuznetsov underwent several name changes—from Riga to Leonid Brezhnev and Tbilisi—before finally being named after Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov. Unlike Western carriers, it was classified as a heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser, a designation that allowed it to transit the Turkish Straits under the Montreux Convention. Its design prioritized the protection of strategic submarines, featuring 12 P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles alongside a complement of Sukhoi Su-33 fighters and Kamov helicopters.

The ship's operational history has been defined by technical struggle. Conventionally powered by mazut, it is infamous for trailing thick black smoke, a byproduct of improper fuel preheating. Its first combat deployment occurred in 2016 during the Syrian civil war, where it launched 420 sorties. However, the mission was marred by the loss of two aircraft due to arresting gear failures, forcing the air wing to relocate to a land base. Since March 2017, the carrier has been sidelined for an overhaul that has become a saga of misfortune.

The modernization effort has been crippled by a series of disasters, including the 2018 sinking of the PD-50 floating drydock, which damaged the flight deck, and multiple major fires in 2019 and 2022. These setbacks, combined with the reassignment of its 1,500-strong crew to combat units in the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2024, have cast doubt on its future. By July 2025, the Integrated Shipbuilding Corporation confirmed the suspension of retrofitting work, with officials discussing potential disposal as the vessel faces the prospect of being scrapped rather than returned to service.

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