Namesake Viking or Varangians Commissioned 16 October 1989 Launched July 1983 Weight 11,670 tons | Laid down 1979 Status in active service Construction started 1979 Length 186 m Displacement 10.42 million kg | |
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Notes In service with Pacific Fleet Builders Shipyard named after 61 Communards, Mykolaiv | ||
Russian cruiser Varyag (Varangian), (ex-Chervona Ukraina), is the third ship of the Slava-class of guided missile cruisers built for the Soviet Navy now serving the Russian Navy.
History
Laid down in 1979 at 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant (Shipyard 445) in Nikolayev as Chervona Ukraina ("Red Ukraine"), the vessel was launched in July 1983, and commissioned 16 October 1989. The warship joined the Pacific Fleet in 1990 and was listed as having only a caretaker crew up to 2002.
The cruiser re-entered service with the Pacific Fleet in early 2008 after an overhaul.
In 2009 Varyag led a fleet of foreign warships participating in a parade to mark the -60th anniversary of China's Navy.
In June 2010, Varyag, under the command of Captain Eduard Moskalenko and with the Commander Northern Fleet Combined Forces Rear-Admiral Vladimir L. Kasatonov embarked, made a port call to San Francisco. The visit, the first by a Russian navy surface combatant in 147 years, featured a plaque dedication ceremony to commemorate six Russian Imperial Navy sailors who died fighting a fire in San Francisco in 1863. This visit also coincided with President Medvedev visiting Silicon Valley and he once again visited Varyag as he had in Singapore in 2009.
On 19 November 2010, during a 4-day informal visit to South Korea, 24-year-old Lieutenant Ivan Yegorov reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself. According to Roman Martov, head of Russian Navy Pacific Fleet Press Service, the reason of suicide was a conflict between the lieutenant and his wife. The crewman's brother doubts that it was suicide, and told reporters that his brother had phoned him several hours before the death: "His voice was high-spirited and he boasted of gifts which he was going to bring his family". There was a police report filed, but no evidence of foul play was found.
From 8 to 11 November 2011 Varyag, accompanied by the tanker Irkut, made a port visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, to commemorate servicemen killed in armed conflicts. Varyag was escorted into Vancouver by the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Algonquin, and Varyag's crew engaged in friendly sports matches with their Canadian counterparts from Algonquin.
In November 2014, Varyag led a deployment of four Russian naval vessels to international waters off Australia. The deployment was believed to be linked to the 2014 G-20 Brisbane summit and growing tensions between the two nations.
In early January 2016, Varyag was reported to have entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to be deployed off Syria′s shore replacing sister ship Moskva, in support of Russia's air operation in Syria that had begun in autumn 2015. The ship was named flagship of the Russian naval task force positioned in the eastern Mediterranean.