Cash-Strapped Putin Set To Scrap Russia's Largest Nuke-Powered Warship Peter The Great
Vladimir Putin is set to scrap Russia’s largest nuclear-powered warship because repairs are too expensive amid the ongoing war against Ukraine, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The warship, dubbed Peter the Great after Russia’s first emperor, was launched in 1998 and served as the flagship of the Russian Navy until its decommissioning this year.
According to the Sun, the gigantic ship was powered by two nuclear reactors, reached speeds up to 31 knots, weighed 28,000 tons, and contained 116 missiles, ten torpedo launchers, and seven guns.
But keeping the monumental warship in operation amid the lengthy and expensive war against Ukraine is reportedly not viable to Putin – particularly as he struggles to provide his invading forces with proper weaponry to successfully take the war-torn neighboring nation.
"The issue of taking the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Peter the Great out of naval service is currently being looked at,” one Russian Navy insider told the Russian news outlet TASS this week.
“It looks like the experience of refitting and modernising the sister ship Admiral Nakhimov has shown that this is very expensive,” the source added.
Previously, Putin boasted about the warship and claimed it had “virtually no equal in the world.”
The Russian leader also revealed that Peter the Great served as the flagship for the Russian Navy’s numerous “sea voyages” across the “world’s oceans.”
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“The cruiser has repeatedly distinguished itself in long sea voyages,” he told the ship's crew during a speech on the vessel in 2013. “It was on active duty, displaying the Russian flag in key strategic areas of the world's oceans."
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Putin’s decision to scrap the 28,000-ton vessel came just as it was revealed another Russian ship was allegedly spying on the United Kingdom.
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According to NATO intelligence agencies, the Russian “spy ship” was spotted off the UK’s eastern coast earlier this week and was likely launched as part of a “sabotage mission” by Putin in the event Russia and NATO go to war as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
"Russia is secretly charting this infrastructure and is undertaking activities which indicate preparations for disruption and sabotage,” one intelligence source revealed.
The source also predicted the men onboard the Russian spy ship are working to “tap” into cables in an effort to intercept secret military communications between members of NATO.