Russian Navy may scrap its only aircraft carrier

[Frodo]

Just for point of comparison, the Soviet Union had seven aircraft carriers built and operated.  Nearly all were decommissioned in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War.  This is the last of those Cold War-era carriers.   

[Frodo]

Russia's military has been suffering from accidents, decaying infrastructure and lack of abilities to upgrade in many areas. Interestingly after 1991 they stopped making spare parts for their choppers, believing that can always buy it abroad, which turned into a problem after the sanctions hit.

Of course Russia retains a formidable capabilities, but they have a real problem to deal with.

Basically the only reason why we still consider Russia a Great Power is because of its nuclear weapons. 

[Frodo]

Russia's military has been suffering from accidents, decaying infrastructure and lack of abilities to upgrade in many areas. Interestingly after 1991 they stopped making spare parts for their choppers, believing that can always buy it abroad, which turned into a problem after the sanctions hit.

Of course Russia retains a formidable capabilities, but they have a real problem to deal with.

Basically the only reason why we still consider Russia a Great Power is because of its nuclear weapons. 

This statement doesn't make much sense unless you assume there are only two Great Powers.

There are superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, with the latter since being replaced by China), and then there are great powers (like Russia and India) which are one rung below.