One of the most emblematic ships of the Navy Russia could have its days numbered. A commission has preliminarily concluded that nuclear-powered cruiser Piotr Veliki too dilapidated to be repairedas stated Vladimir Maltsevresponsible for All-Russian Movement to Support the Navyto the state agency TASS on October 30.
Maltsev maintains that ‘the cruise cannot be restored’although it specifies that a final decision has not yet been announced. Neither the Ministry of Defense nor the Navy have commented, but the commission considers that it is not worth repairing and modernizing the ship.
Pyotr Veliki belongs to the Project 1144 Orlanknown for NATO as class Kirov. These giants are considered the largest surface combatants ever builtwith the exception of aircraft carriers. Has 251 meters length, approximately 28,000 tons displacement and is equipped with anti-ship missiles P-700 Granite and long-range anti-aircraft missiles S-300F. For more than two decades, it has been the flagship of the Northern Fleet and one of the symbols of Russian naval powerwhich is why it has headed its main exercises.
The keel of the Pyotr Veliki was laid on Leningrad in 1986 and entered service in 1998. She was the last of the four Orlan cruisers and the only one that remained active during the decades after the disappearance of the Soviet Unionalthough it is moored and inactive in Severomorsk from autumn 2022, according to The Barents Observer.
The future of the Piotr Veliki has been conditioned by the modernization of its twin, the Admiral Nakhimov. According to a defense industry source cited by TASS, Russia intended to repair the first when work on the second was completed, to always keep at least one cruiser of this class in service. Furthermore, the shipyard Sevmashin charge of repairs, can only deal with one of these ships at a time.
The modernization of the Nakhímov was due to finish in 2018, but it accumulates eight years late and its cost has doubled to exceed 200,000 million rubles, about 2,211 million euros.
By the time those jobs were nearing completion, The useful life of the Piotr Veliki had already been exhaustedaccording to the same source. TASS reported plans to retire it in 2023, but another source cited by RIA Novosti denied that it was planned to decommission it.
The Nakhímov left at the end of May 2026 for its final sea trials, after almost three decades out of serviceand the Navy plans to incorporate it into the Northern Fleet before the end of the year. If the Piotr Veliki is retired, it will be the only Russian nuclear cruiser, since the Admiral Ushakov and Admiral Lazarev They have already been discharged.
The only Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsovfaces similar uncertainty, under repair since 2017 and severely damaged by a fire in 2019. According to Russian media, work has largely stopped while it is decided whether to return to service or be scrappedwithout there being an official decision either.