The chairman of Russia's State Shipbuilding Corporation told Kommersant in comments published Friday that the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, which is 40 years old, will likely be sold or scrapped.

Andrei Kostin made his remarks after a report published in the Izvestia daily newspaper earlier this month. The article cited anonymous sources who said that long-running refitting and maintenance works on the warship were suspended.

The Admiral Kuznetsov was launched in 1985, when the Soviet Union was still in existence. Its planes carried out airstrikes on rebel forces in Syria to support the then-President Bashar Al-Assad.

It has not been in service since 2017 and is being modernised in Murmansk, close to the base of Russia's Northern Fleet.

The efforts to revamp it have been plagued by accidents and setbacks.

Kostin, when asked about the fate of the Admiral Kuznetsov on Thursday, on the sidelines a ceremony to raise the flag for a nuclear submarine in the northwestern part of Russia, made it clear that no final decision had been taken but that it was not worth investing money into the ship.

"We don't think it is worth repairing anymore." It's over 40 years old and extremely expensive... I believe the issue will be solved in a way where it will be either sold or disposed," Kostin said, as quoted by Kommersant.

Moscow considers detailed information on the combat readiness level of each warship to be sensitive and does not make any comments.

Russian experts and veterans of the Russian navy are divided over the possibility that the warship will be scrapped. Some tell Izvestia that it is outdated, while others say it or its successor would provide the capability Russia needs.

In 2017, when the aircraft carrier was returning from the Mediterranean and belching black fume, then-Defence Secretary Michael Fallon called it "the ship of shame". (Reporting and editing by Helen Popper; Andrew Osborn)

(source: Reuters)