Russia to deploy sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in the Mediterranean

Russia is getting ready to send its sole operating aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to Mediterranean waters off Syrian coast.

Russian TASS news agency reported that a high ranking official of Russian Navy told that the aircraft carrier will be positioned in the Mediterranean Sea to lead the already existing ships in the area.

The article stated that the ship is currently located in Russian port of Murmansk on the Barents Sea, where it is being prepared for its long distance campaign.

The current deployment formation of Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea began in 2013, the article said, with more than ten warships rotating in the region.

Admiral Kuznetsov was also deployed in the Mediterranean Sea in 2011 - 2012, when the civil war in Syria began.

Ordered in early 1980s and commissioned in 1990 during the Soviet Union era, Admiral Kuznetsov is the sole operating aircraft carrier of Russian Navy. Its sister ship Varyag was never completed, and sold to China initially for a floating hotel and casino project. Nowadays, Varyag, later renamed as Liaoning, serves as the only aircraft carrier of the Chinese Navy.