Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov

Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (Russian: Адмира́л фло́та Сове́тского Сою́за Кузнецо́в, "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov") is an aircraft carrier (heavy aircraft cruiser in Russian classification) that has served as the flagship of the Russian navy. She was built by the Black Sea Shipyard, the sole manufacturer of Soviet aircraft carriers, in Nikolayev within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) and launched in 1985, becoming fully operational in the Russian Navy in 1995. The initial name of the ship was Tbilisi; she was launched as Leonid Brezhnev, embarked on sea trials as Tbilisi, and was finally named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov.

She was originally commissioned in the Soviet Navy, and was intended to be the lead ship of the two-ship Kuznetsov class. However, her sister ship Varyag was still incomplete when the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991. The second hull was eventually sold by Ukraine to China, completed in Dalian and commissioned as Liaoning.

The ship has been out of service and in repairs since 2018. The repair process has been hampered by accidents, embezzlement of funds, and other setbacks. After the floating drydock PD-50 sank in Kola Bay (Murmansk) in an accident that killed one worker in October 2018, the ship was towed to Sevmorput Yard No 35. In another mishap in December 2019, a major fire killed at least one worker and injured ten others. In June 2022, the ship was transferred to a drydock at the 35th Ship Repair Plant in Murmansk, where she remained until February 2023. It was projected that repairs would be completed and the ship would be transferred back to the Russian Navy in 2024, but this was pushed back to at least 2025.

As of February 2025 the non-operational Admiral Kuznetsov is the Russian Navy's only carrier, leaving the Russian Navy without an operational aircraft carrier.