Key Points and Summary on Admiral Kuznetsov Aircraft Carrier – Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is a “ship of shame” that will likely be scrapped after a disastrous and decade-long repair effort.
-The beleaguered warship has been plagued by a litany of failures, including fatal fires, a sinking dry dock that crashed a 70-ton crane onto its deck, and the recent reassignment of its crew to fight as infantry in Ukraine.
-Once envisioned as the pride of the Soviet Navy, the Kuznetsov’s career has been a “never-ending nightmare,” and its likely demise marks a symbolic end to Russia’s blue-water carrier ambitions.
Admiral Kuznetsov Aircraft Carrier Looks Near the End
Pity the poor Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov (full official name Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov; “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov”).
As the flagship of the Russian Navy (Voyenno-morskoy flot Rossiyskoy Federatsii), she should theoretically be the pride and joy of the maritime branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Theoretically, she should be able to give the Russian Navy some semblance of naval aviation power projection a la the carrier strike groups (CSGs) of the United States Navy.
In practice, the Kuznetsov has instead been a never-ending nightmare and source of embarrassment for the Russian Navy (a “ship of shame,” as some call her).
She hasn’t sailed since March 2017, having undergone seemingly constant repairs, refits, and overhauls ever since.
Now, there’s the distinct possibility she’ll never sail again and instead be headed for the scrapyard. So then, is it time to finally bid “Da zvidaniya (Goodbye)” to this beleaguered aircraft carrier?
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)
The latest news comes to us from news journalist Parth Satam in a 12 July 2025 article for The Aviationist titled “Russia Considers Retiring its Sole Aircraft Carrier.”
To wit: “The Russian Navy is likely to pull the plug off the repairs that are keeping afloat its sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, ending a brief yet eventful era of Soviet naval aviation. Izvestia quoted Russian Navy, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) and Ministry of Defense (RuMoD) officials in deep background, who said the ‘physically outdated carrier may be decommissioned and sent for disposal,’ while claiming its repair and maintenance has been suspended for a while.”
Mr. Satam added that, although RuMoD and the Russian Navy’s Main Command did not officially confirm the decision to scrap the carrier, there is a growing sentiment within the Russian naval community that continuing to pour precious resources into the ship is a significant waste of rubles.
Moreover, Russian naval experts are divided on whether an aircraft carrier is even relevant to the Russian military at this time. The money might be better spent on smaller, automated weapons systems.
An additional indication of the proverbial writing on the wall for the carrier was revealed in September 2024: at least some of her 1,500-person crew were yanked from the vessel and reassigned to a Russian Army unit—a so-called “frigate” mechanized battalion within the 1st Guards Tank Army—so they could fight and die in Ukraine instead. Reportedly, this “frigate” battalion fought around Kharkiv in northern Ukraine before shifting to the Pokrovsk axis in the east, with at least one former sailor turned soldier, Oleg Sosedov, going missing in action on 23 July 2024.
Timeline of the Kuznetsov’s Troubles
It’s a long litany of lamentations:
—One matros (sailor) died when a fire broke out in 2009.
—During the vessel’s lone combat deployment to Syria in 2016 (more on this in a bit), she lost a MiG-29 “Fulcrum” and a Sukhoi Su-33 “Flanker-D” fighter jet to accidents in November and December, respectively. The ship was sent home for repairs in 2017, whereupon the nightmare would only get worse.
—On 30 October 2018, Russia’s biggest floating dry dock, the PD-50, sank, which sent one of its 70-ton cranes crashing onto Kuznetsov’s flight deck and cratering it with a gaping 200 square foot (19 square meter) hole.
—In December 2019, a major fire broke out during welding work, which covered 5,381 square feet (500 square meters) of the vessel, raged for 24 hours, caused the deaths of two sailors, and injured 14 other persons. The cause of the fire was determined to be a spark from welding equipment igniting diesel fuel.
As if these problems weren’t bad enough, the ship is constantly spewing noxious black smoke, due to the vessel’s reliance on mazut, a heavy and thick fuel that belches out of control when not properly preheated.
To make matters worse, the ship’s internal ventilation system is not fully functional, thus exposing the crew to the health hazards of the fumes.
Admiral Kuznetsov’s Initial History
Assigned identification number 063 (equivalent of a hull number in the US Navy, e.g., BB-61 for the battleship USS Iowa, or a pennant number for Great Britain’s Royal Navy warships, e.g., Pennant No. 03 for the battleship HMS Warspite), this star-crossed warship was initially named Tbilisi (for the capital city of what was then the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia) when she was ordered on 3 March 1981.
Laid down on 1 April 1982, she was launched on 6 December 1985 as the Leonid Brezhnev.
She was renamed yet again by the name we know now on 4 October 1990, named in honor of Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (24 July 1904 – 6 December 1974), who served as Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union—equivalent of the US Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)—from March 1955 to February 1956.
Kuznetsov was finally commissioned on 20 January 1991, a mere 11 months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, but didn’t go fully operational until 1995, nearly four years after the end of the Cold War.
It wasn’t until 15 November 2016 that Kuznetsov was first “blooded” in combat, whereupon she launched Su-33 airstrikes against the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/Da’esh and Al Nusra terrorist group positions in Syria.
By the time her Syria deployment was completed, she had reportedly carried out 420 combat missions, hitting 1,252 hostile targets.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
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