Russia's only aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old Admiral Kuznetsov, is likely to be sold or scrapped, the chairman of Russia's state shipbuilding corporation told the Kommersant newspaper in comments published on Friday.

Built at a time when the Soviet Union was trying to project naval power on par with the West, the Admiral Kuznetsov carried enormous symbolic value.

The evolution of Soviet VTOL aircraft tells a story of technological daring, strategic necessity, and Cold War rivalry.

The An-24, a twin-propeller aircraft, was 49 years old, with Russian state media reporting that its service life was extended to 60 years.

Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, said in 2024 that Russian and Chinese incursions into U.S. zones off Alaska have become increasingly frequent.

Russian military aircraft were seen flying off the coast of Alaska, marking the latest in a string of sightings. U.S. officials did not consider it a threat.

Nothing out of the ordinary,” Canadian Air Force Capt. Rebecca Garand, a NORAD spokeswoman, said Thursday about the Russian flights.

Vietnam and the U.S. have been expanding their defense partnership since Washington lifted its arms sales ban on Hanoi in 2016.