Putin's Only Aircraft Carrier Has Never Seen Action in Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin's sole aircraft carrier, which reportedly caught fire on Thursday, has been out of service for years before the war in Ukraine began amid repair work and a pattern of damaging incidents.

The Russian state-owned news outlets Ria Novosti and Tass both reported that a "minor" fire had broken out on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier as it was undergoing repairs in a dry dock. Both cited Alexei Rakhmanov, the head of the Russian state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) that has been overseeing a refit of the carrier.

Rakhmanov reportedly told the outlets that the fire was successfully extinguished, and there was no damage to the carrier. The blaze also did not result in any casualties, though 20 people were forced to evacuate from the warship, the Russian outlets reported.

While a fire of any size on Putin's only aircraft carrier may seem like a major development, it is actually not all that unusual for the Admiral Kuznetsov. In fact, it is the second fire that has broken out on the warship in recent years.

The Admiral Kuznetsov weighs 43,000 tons, is 1,000 feet long and has a crew of 1,300 personnel, Newsweek previously reported. It is also equipped with anti-ship and air defense missile systems.

It was conceived in the 1980s and intended to be a hybrid between a dedicated carrier and heavy missile cruiser, according to National Interest. Though it was introduced in 1991, it wasn't until the mid-1990s that it became fully operational.

But since 2018, the Admiral Kuznetsov has been out of service and stationed at a dry dock for repairs. In October 2018, a giant crane crashed onto the ship and created a gash of up to 16 feet after the dry dock where it was undergoing a refit sank.

In December 2019, a fire broke out in the warship's hold, killing at least one crew member, injuring several others and causing an estimated $8 million in damage.

According to Tass, it also underwent repairs from 2001 to 2004, 2008 and 2015.

Despite all of these incidents, the Admiral Kuznetsov is notably still considered the flagship of the Russian Navy. It is currently stationed at a shipyard in Murmansk, Russia.

Murmansk, a port on the Arctic Ocean, is located in northwestern Russia, far away from the ongoing action in Ukraine as Putin continues to wage war on the eastern European country.

Newsweek reached out to the USC for additional information and comment on the fire and whether there have been any changes in the projected timeline for the Admiral Kuznetsov's return to service. Russia's Defense Ministry was also contacted for comment.