A photo taken from a Norwegian surveillance aircraft shows Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in international waters off the coast of Northern Norway on October 17, 2016. Handout via Reuters/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

MOSCOW, July 25 (Reuters) – Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov, is likely to be sold or scrapped, the chairman of Russia’s state shipbuilding corporation told the Kommersant newspaper in comments published on Friday.

Andrei Kostin’s remarks follow a report in the daily Izvestia newspaper earlier this month, which cited unnamed sources as saying long-running refit and maintenance work on the warship had been suspended.

Launched in 1985 when the Soviet Union still existed, the Admiral Kuznetsov saw action in Russia’s military campaign in Syria in support of then-President Bashar al-Assad, with its planes carrying out airstrikes against rebel forces.

But it has played no role in the war in Ukraine and has been out of service since 2017, undergoing modernisation in the Murmansk area close to where Russia’s Northern Fleet is based.

Efforts to overhaul it have suffered repeated accidents and setbacks.

Asked about its fate on Thursday on the sidelines of a flag-raising ceremony for a new nuclear submarine in northwestern Russia, Kostin made it clear that a final decision had not yet been taken, but suggested that the Admiral Kuznetsov was no longer worth spending money on.

“We believe there is no point in repairing it anymore. It is over 40-years old, and it is extremely expensive … I think the issue will be resolved in such a way that it will either be sold or disposed of,” Kostin was quoted as saying by Kommersant.

Detailed information about the combat readiness of individual warships is regarded as sensitive by Moscow and the Russian Defence Ministry does not comment on such matters.

Russian naval veterans and experts are divided on the prospect of the warship being scrapped, with some telling Izvestia it is obsolete, and others saying it or a successor would provide a capability that Russia needs.

The aircraft carrier gained notoriety in Britain when then-Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon dubbed it the “ship of shame” in 2017 when it passed close to the English coast on its way back from the Mediterranean belching black smoke.

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