As Russia is said to have given up on repairing its aircraft carrier, China is said to be its only savior.

TIMEMOMENTS.COM - Russia is reported to have given up on repairing one of its pride and joy aircraft carriers, the Admiral Kuznetsov.

According to The National Interest, on July 15, 2025, it was reported that the Russian Navy appears to have chosen to scrap the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

The ship has been stranded at the dock since 2017.

The Admiral Kuznetsov has only survived this long because Russia wants to maintain its limited aircraft carrier capabilities.

To a certain extent, this is a matter of national pride—and justifies the continued pouring of funds into Russian shipyards to keep the aging aircraft carrier operational.

However, the war in Ukraine has forced Moscow to prioritize its national defense.

The war, as well as general trends in modern warfare, no longer make aircraft carriers a valuable investment.

Previously, the Admiral Kuznetsov had undergone repairs and refits over the past eight years, and had experienced several delays and accidents during this time.

Funding for its repairs has been significantly cut, raising growing questions about its future.

The repairs were intended to provide a major increase in the level of automation on the aircraft carrier.

This would facilitate a reduction in the number of crew required from around 1,900 to just 1,500 personnel, while also modernizing the onboard electronic and propulsion systems.

Despite the Russian Navy's difficulties in operating its aircraft carriers,

the Ministry of Defense continues to see a need for such vessels, as outlined in the state document “Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Naval Activities Until 2030.”

This policy stipulates that the Northern and Pacific Fleets each must have an aircraft carrier, totaling two operational vessels.

According to Military Watch Magazine, China may be the only country capable of assisting Russia in repairing the aircraft carrier.

This is based on historical facts: one of the three Kuznetsov-class carriers built, with the second carrier constructed by the Soviet Union never completed by that country, was purchased by China in the 1990s.

It was later developed into China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

China's shipbuilding industry has since been able to build a more capable new iteration of the Kuznetsov-class design domestically, which currently serves as the Shandong.

Both are considered among the most capable aircraft carriers in the world today and have demonstrated far greater reliability than the Admiral Kuznetsov.

Their subsystems, including propulsion and sensor systems, are state-of-the-art.

Sending the Admiral Kuznetsov to China for extensive repairs could revolutionize its capabilities and bring its performance on par with the Liaoning.

This could be done at a significantly lower cost than domestic repairs, which are more limited due to the much healthier state and more efficient performance of China's shipbuilding industry.

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