re: #460 Dr Lizardo

Behold, the Admiral Kutzenov, Russia’s one - and only - aircraft carrier:

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It’s now being decided whether she should be scrapped or undergo extensive repairs - and not long ago, she caught on fire, causing serious damage. A decrepit relic of the Soviet era.

The Russians can’t afford a deep water navy anymore. And with the sanctions now in place, they’ll be lucky if they can afford to buy an old bassboat off Craigslist.

I think they used to have two carriers, but ended up selling one to the Chinese, which the latter then (IIRC) had to spend nearly as much time and money rebuilding, refitting and upgrading as it would have taken to build a new one from scratch.
But then, is the Black Sea considered “deep water”? One doesn’t really need a carrier if threatening Odessa with bombing is one of their naval priorities.