Moscow’s only aircraft carrier is in a ‘critical state’

RUSSIA’S only aircraft carrier is in a “critical state” after catching fire during repairs last month, Ukraine’s military intelligence has said.

The Admiral Kuznetsov has suffered a string of embarrassing and deadly mishaps since it was commissioned into the Russian navy.

Just last month, authorities reported a fire on the warship as it was supposedly close to being released back to the navy after years of repairs.

Ukrainian intelligence said the military and shipbuilders were now playing the blame game for “driving Russia’s only aircraft carrier into a critical state”.

The warship had been in a dry dock when it caught fire in Dec and was meant to move to Murmansk in northern Russia. But the shipbuilders discovered the carrier was unable to move under its own power, according to the Ukrainian report. They then reportedly tried to move it with tugboats but failed “due to the critical state of the hull”.

First launched in 1985, the warship has run into several deadly incidents since repairs began in 2017. Two people were killed and dozens were injured in 2019 when a fire caused by sparks from welding tore through parts of the ship.