Costing $5 billion to modernize, Russia’s nuclear battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov was meant to be the ultimate symbol of naval power. Armed with hypersonic missiles and decades of upgrades, it should dominate the seas. Yet despite its size and firepower, the ship has become a strategic liability in the war with Ukraine. How could one of the world’s most powerful warships be rendered nearly useless without a single shot being fired? The reason might surprise you.
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00:00Costing $5 billion to construct, the nuclear cruiser Admiral Nakimov is the pride of the
00:06Russian Navy, packing enough firepower to wipe out entire cities or eliminate any vessel
00:12standing in its way.
00:13It's supposed to be one of the most formidable military vessels the world has ever seen,
00:18the kind of mega-military innovation that Russia's President Vladimir Putin loves to
00:23boast about.
00:24But it's been rendered almost entirely worthless by Ukraine's armed forces.
00:31So, here's the full story of the life and effective death of the Admiral Nakimov.
00:38The story of the Admiral Nakimov began before modern-day Russia even existed.
00:43It was on May 17, 1983, during the days of the Soviet Union, that this ship was laid down,
00:50with construction officially commencing at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg, then
00:55known as Leningrad.
00:56It launched a few years later, on April 25, 1986, and was commissioned on December 30, 1988.
01:04Back then, it was known as the Kalinin, and it officially entered service with the Northern
01:09Fleet on April 21, 1989.
01:12It was renamed a few years later, in 1992, in honor of renowned Navy Admiral Pavel Stepanovich
01:22Nakimov, who led the Imperial Russian Navy to a historic victory in the Battle of Sinnoh,
01:26during the Crimean War in 1853.
01:29Constructed during the Cold War, this Kirov-class battlecruiser boasted extensive offensive and
01:36defensive capacities, and is the largest surface warship to have been constructed since the
01:41Second World War, not including aircraft carriers.
01:44It measures up at over 823 feet 251 meters, with a beam just over 93 feet or 28.5 meters,
01:54a draft over 33 feet or 10.3 meters, and a maximum displacement of 28,000 tons when fully loaded.
02:01It was equipped with an extensive arsenal, described by the US intelligence community of the 1980s,
02:08as having an array of weapons that makes it one of the most powerfully armed surface warships
02:13in the world.
02:14Those weapons included 20 P-700 Granite anti-ship missiles and launchers, 12 S-300F surface-to-air
02:22launchers with 96 missiles in total, and a pair of 4K 33 OSA-M surface-to-air missile batteries,
02:30with a total of 40 individual SAMs on board at any given time.
02:35The Nakimov also boasted a twin 130mm AK-130 dual-purpose gun, a set of RBU-6000 and RBU-1000
02:45anti-submarine missile launchers, 10 533mm torpedo tubes, and six Cortic close-in weapons systems.
02:53This made it strong enough to fulfill its primary objective of countering NATO submarines and carrier
02:59strike groups.
03:00It was also constructed with a helicopter landing pad, and enough under-deck storage space to
03:06house up to three Kamov Ka-27 helicopters.
03:10In addition, despite its enormous size, it was able to exceed speeds of 30 knots or 34.5
03:17miles per hour, thanks to a special engine system that made use of both steam and nuclear
03:22power.
03:22Together, with a pair of steam turbines connected to a KN-3 nuclear reactor, with an oil-fired
03:29boiler to provide additional power, as and when required.
03:33Thanks to this system, the Nakimov enjoyed near-limitless range when operating at lower speeds, and a peak
03:39speed of 25 knots or 29 miles per hour while operating on nuclear power alone, which can push past the
03:4630-knot mark with the use of an oil boiler.
03:49On top of all this, the Nakimov had sufficient space on board for a crew of over 700 people.
03:55In short, it was a formidable vessel, and a frightening prospect for any NATO force to encounter in open water.
04:02But after the Cold War came to an end in 1991, the Admiral Nakimov slowly started to lose relevance.
04:09The years passed, and there was less need for justification for Russia to continue operating
04:15such an enormous, expensive warship.
04:18As such, the Nakimov made fewer and fewer journeys, culminating with its final 20th-century
04:23voyage in July 1997.
04:26In 1999, it was towed to Severodvinsk, initially to undergo repairs, which later turned into an
04:33extensive and extremely expensive renovation project.
04:35Over the course of more than two decades, the Nakimov remained in situ at the Sevmash shipyard.
04:42Bit by bit, the vessel was brought up to modern standards.
04:45But the project wasn't without its problems.
04:48It ran over budget and over schedule.
04:51Indeed, on numerous occasions, officials like Sevmash director Nikolai Kalistratov claimed
04:57that the project would soon be complete and that the ship would re-enter service.
05:01But the Nakimov's renovation ended up taking almost a quarter of a century in total.
05:06It also cost a whopping 200 billion rubles, or around 5 billion dollars, making it one
05:12of the most expensive military modernization programs of a single vessel ever recorded.
05:18Aimed at extending the service life of the vessel and making it more relevant and viable
05:22in modern combat conditions, the overhaul involved several major changes
05:26to the Nakimov's offensive arsenal.
05:29The outdated P-700 granite anti-ship missile launchers, for example, were removed and dismantled,
05:35according to Russian sources, before being replaced with 80 universal UKSK-3S-14 launchers,
05:43which are capable of firing some of Russia's most powerful modern-day missiles like Calibers,
05:49Onyx and Zircons.
05:50The project also involved the addition of new radar systems, improving the vessel's situational
05:56awareness capabilities and a 130mm AK-192M naval gun.
06:02Other close-in weapons, guns and anti-submarine rockets and torpedoes have also received iterative
06:08upgrades, and the ship's air defense battery has been modernized, with the latest S-400 system
06:14replacing the Cold War-era S-300.
06:17These improvements helped to bring the Admiral Nakimov into the 21st century, empowering it
06:23with long-range land-attack capabilities.
06:25The caliber cruise missiles, for example, which cost close to a billion dollars each,
06:31can carry warheads weighing up to 1,100 pounds and reach peak speeds of up to Mach 3,
06:38or three times the speed of sound, which is around 2,300 miles per hour.
06:44With multi-stage solid-fuel designs and turbojet engines built in, some of these missiles
06:50had the power to strike targets around 1,550 miles or 2,500 kilometers away, and they've
06:58proven particularly effective during Russia's war with Ukraine.
07:01The Kremlin's forces have fired huge numbers of caliber missiles at Ukrainian towns, cities,
07:06and military sites, leading to large numbers of deaths and injuries, along with extensive
07:11damage to buildings, ports, and valuable pieces of infrastructure.
07:15P-800 Onik missiles, too, owe some impressive technical specifications, including an operational
07:22range of 370 miles or 600 kilometers, and maximum speeds of Mach 2.9 or 1,998 miles per hour.
07:32The Zircons, meanwhile, are the fastest of the three.
07:35Qualifying into the hypersonic category of missiles, they can reach top speeds of Mach 9,
07:41or almost 7,000 miles per hour, making them incredibly difficult to intercept and ensuring
07:47that any enemy force on the receiving end of a Zircon strike has barely any time at all
07:52to react and respond to it.
07:54With an effective operational range in excess of 620 miles or 1,000 kilometers, these missiles
08:01can deal devastating damage to targets near and far.
08:05With these additional armaments, the Nakimov nuclear-powered missile cruiser is stronger
08:10than ever before, at least on paper.
08:12And in 2025, after more than 25 years in the dry dock, this colossal battle cruiser began sea
08:19trials, with plans to reintroduce it to military service the following year.
08:23That news should and could have sent ripples of concern throughout the Ukrainian ranks,
08:29as a cruiser of this size and strength could potentially allow Russia to assert dominance
08:33in bodies of water like the Black Sea, while also giving the Kremlin another launch platform
08:38for its deadly missile strikes on Ukraine's towns, cities, military bases, and civilian sites.
08:45Russia, meanwhile, should have been proudly boasting about its new super-powered vessel,
08:49ready to rain down fire and destruction on its enemy,
08:52and lead the charge towards a crushing and comprehensive victory in a war that's raged on
08:57far longer than anyone even Vladimir Putin ever anticipated.
09:02But that's not what happened.
09:04Instead, behind closed doors, Russian officials are believed to be second-guessing the costly
09:09decision to renovate the Nakimov in the first place, while Western analysts are labeling the
09:14entire project a massive waste of time and money.
09:16Ukraine, meanwhile, has managed to rewrite the rules of naval warfare so extensively
09:21that a big ship like this feels more like a costly, cumbersome burden than an invaluable piece of hardware.
09:28In other words, the new and improved Nakimov is nowhere near as deadly or devastating as it first appears,
09:34but is instead another costly reminder of Russia's outdated doctrines and diminishing military strength.
09:4028,000 tons of dead weight with little to no chance of playing any sort of decisive or instrumental role
09:47in the
09:48remainder of the war with Ukraine.
09:49But before we get into that, if this is the kind of insight you want more of, make sure you're
09:55subscribed to the military show.
09:57We break it down like this every week.
09:59On paper, the Admiral Nakimov should be one of the most valuable and vital pieces of hardware in Russia's entire
10:06arsenal.
10:07It should be out there right now, taking up strategic positions in the Black Sea, carrying out ground-shaking missile
10:13strikes on high-value targets dotted across the Ukrainian territory.
10:17It should strike fear into the Ukrainian armed forces, while serving as a constant unshakable reminder of Russia's rich military
10:25history and unparalleled strength.
10:27But it's not doing any of that.
10:29Why?
10:30Because times have changed.
10:32There was once an era when a colossus of a cruiser like this would have been an extraordinary military advantage,
10:38the pride of almost any navy in the world.
10:40For years, Russia has been talking about bringing the Nakimov up to date and reintroducing it to military service.
10:47And for years, that was a frightening prospect for the country's enemies around the world.
10:52But not anymore.
10:53A gigantic cruise with modernized vertical launch systems and dozens of onboard missiles is no longer the threat it once
11:00was.
11:01Because this is no longer the era of vast warships dominating the ocean waves.
11:06It's the era of drones.
11:08Cheap, simple, but remarkably effective when it comes to dealing damage and wiping targets off the map.
11:14Drones have come to dominate the war between Russia and Ukraine, with the latter proving particularly effective at developing innovative,
11:21game-changing models capable of traveling both by air and sea to hunt down and eliminate any targets in their
11:28way.
11:28As naval expert and open-source intelligence analyst H.I. Sutton puts it in an article for Naval News,
11:35Ukrainian surface drones, USVs, present seemingly unwinnable defensive conundrums to the much larger Russian fleet in the Black Sea.
11:44So, as Ukrainian naval drones bottle up the Black Sea fleet in port, the Russian navy has effectively saddled itself
11:51with a self-inflicted burden, desperately clinging to faded Cold War grandeur.
11:55Put another way, Russia still appears stuck in a bygone age, one in which record-breaking warships of staggering size
12:02and strength were the be-all and end-all of naval might.
12:06An age in which countries across the globe competed to build the biggest, fanciest ships with the latest and greatest
12:12missile launchers and air defense systems.
12:14But the truth of the matter is, that age is over.
12:18Now, even the world's biggest and strongest military forces are moving away from constructing warships worth billions of dollars, instead
12:25putting more of their time and energy into drones and the platforms required to launch them.
12:30China, for example, has been working tirelessly to expand its array of uncrewed drone platforms in open water,
12:37and the US, too, is pouring a lot of money and manpower into constructing a naval drone fleet to keep
12:43up with its enemies in this increasingly important aspect of modern warfare.
12:48Russia, meanwhile, has thrown billions of dollars into modernizing a ship that no longer seems to have much of a
12:54place in the world today.
12:55As Sutton continues, the future of such large surface combatants in the age of uncrewed warfare seems increasingly questionable.
13:04Even before drones, concentrating so much money and firepower in a single hull was open to challenge, but now it's
13:10even more doubtful.
13:12While drones cannot currently perform all the roles of crewed vessels, the threat they create and the way that they're
13:17reshaping naval warfare is real.
13:20And Ukraine has led the way in that respect, consistently pushing and breaking the boundaries of drone warfare time and
13:27time again over the course of the conflict so far.
13:30There have been countless recorded instances of Ukrainian drone crews taking out high-value Russian naval assets.
13:37In late 2025, for example, the Ukrainian military made use of underwater drones to blow up a Russian Kilo-class
13:44submarine, which was docked in the Novolosysk harbor at the time.
13:48The sub was estimated at around $400 million in value, while the kinds of drones used to destroy it are
13:54valued at the hundreds of thousands.
13:56This shows just how much more valuable it is in this day and age to have a strong selection of
14:02relatively low-cost drones to choose from, rather than a small array of enormously expensive warships.
14:08Often, all it takes is one or two well-placed drone hits for millions or even billions of dollars of
14:14military hardware to go up in smoke or sink to the bottom of the ocean depths.
14:18And there have been many other examples of this since 2022, with various Russian subs, landing craft, cruises and other
14:26vessels struck, damaged and even destroyed entirely by Ukrainian drones.
14:30It's even reached the point where Russia's commanders are scared to actually deploy their ships, including vessels like the Nakimor,
14:38because they know that Ukrainian drone teams are scanning the seas and could easily launch precise targeted attacks to take
14:44them out with ruthless precision and efficiency, all in the blink of an eye.
14:49In effect, Kyiv has sunk Russia's fleet without even needing to fire an actual shot.
14:54As Sutton notes, in the Black Sea, the Russian Navy is essentially confined to port due to the elusive yet
15:01persistent threat of Ukrainian surface drones.
15:04He goes on to note that even though these drones aren't actually as powerful as the likes of Onyx and
15:09Caliber missiles, they're still potent enough to deal game-changing damage, while also being small and agile enough to evade
15:17even the most sophisticated close-in defense systems used by Russia today.
15:21And perhaps the biggest advantage of all when it comes to naval drones over vast vessels is this, they're uncrewed.
15:28That in turn makes them expendable.
15:31Ukraine could send 100 drones at a Russian ship, and as long as a few of them hit the target
15:35and deal damage, it's a successful mission, without any Ukrainian lives lost or even put at risk in the process.
15:42On the Russian side, even the most hardened nationalist military bloggers aren't going to bother celebrating the destruction of a
15:49few dozen enemy drones.
15:50But if Ukraine can take out a Russian ship and its crew, which can sometimes consist of dozens or even
15:56hundreds of Russian soldiers, that's the kind of victory worth boasting about.
16:00The drastically cheaper prices of drones compared to warships, frigates, subs, and landing craft makes them even more dispensable.
16:08Warships, meanwhile, cost such a lot to make and maintain.
16:11They have to be treated with an exceptional amount of care.
16:15Operations must be planned out with expert precision, right down to the tiniest detail.
16:20And even the tiniest oversight or mistake can lead to catastrophic losses.
16:24And even though Russia's warships are vast and imposing, they're certainly not unsinkable.
16:30That was proven back in 2022, in the early stages of the war, when the famous missile cruiser Moskva, the
16:37flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, was sunk by Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
16:42This single instance highlighted the startling vulnerability of large warships without sufficient point defense and damage control capabilities.
16:50It's not difficult to imagine the Admiral Nakimov suffering a similar fate, if it were to find itself in hostile
16:57waters or on the receiving end of a well-orchestrated Ukrainian drone or missile strike.
17:03As Sutton writes, big ships like this may be particularly impressive in peacetime.
17:08But when it comes to real-world combat scenarios, they're actually not as invulnerable as they seem.
17:13Indeed, many aren't any better armored than the smaller ships hiding out in Russia's Black Sea ports.
17:19Thus, perhaps Russia may have been better learning the lessons of the Moskva and putting more money into fire suppression
17:25and damage control systems for its Nakimov modernization project,
17:29rather than worrying so much about its offensive capacities and the number of missiles on board.
17:35Instead, as in so many other cases, when the country has wasted extortionate amounts of money on similar disasters, Russia
17:42continues to demonstrate astonishing levels of stubbornness and a remarkable resistance to move with the times.
17:48It continues to live in the past, playing by a rulebook the rest of the world has already abandoned.
17:54Ultimately, Sutton is one of many analysts to label the Nakimov much more of a vanity project focused more on
18:00the perception of might than genuinely practical military value.
18:04And the costs of this vanity project don't end with the modernization, a ship this size will come with a
18:09massive maintenance budget too.
18:11The more time goes by, and the more Russia has to spend, the more likely it will become that the
18:17country's navy eventually decides to cut its losses and decommission the vessel.
18:21Meanwhile, Russia's number one enemy, the United States, was already fielding warships with Nakimov-style land attack capabilities as far
18:30back as the 1980s.
18:32In fact, some of America's top cruisers, like the Ticonderoga-class vessels, which entered service in 1983, are arguably even
18:40more formidable than the Nakimov today.
18:42They can be equipped with up to 122 vertical launch cells, for example, while displacing less than 10,000 tons.
18:50In comparison, despite being far larger, the Nakimov only has around 80 cells.
18:55So, not only is the Nakimov effectively worthless in the war with Ukraine, it's also decades out of date compared
19:01to world-leading US hardware.
19:03In the end, like Russia's T-14 Armata tank, which has also been hyped up by Putin and his Kremlin
19:10cronies, but labelled a pointless vanity project by detractors,
19:14the Nakimov feels far more style than substance.
19:17Yet another visually impressive asset that Russia can enjoy showing off at naval parades, but one that fails to deliver
19:23any real military value to speak of.
19:25And it's not just at sea that Russia is fueling expensive, outdated assets.
19:31This video explores how the country's main battle tanks have proven utterly useless in direct combat with Ukrainian armed forces.
19:39Alternatively, check out this detailed breakdown of five of Russia's so-called superweapons that have utterly failed on all fronts.
19:47And finally, make sure to subscribe to our channel, too, for more insightful analysis and breaking military news reports you
19:54won't want to miss.
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