What You Need to Know: The Russian Navy’s decision not to modernize the Pyotr Veliky, one of two remaining Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisers, underscores the vessel’s diminishing value.

The Kirov-class battlecruiser displaces 24,300 tons (standard and a total of 28,000 tons when fully loaded. The length is 252 meters (827 feet). Its beam is 28.5 meters (93.5 feet).

Why You Need to Know: The Kirov-class nuclear-powered guided-missile battlecruisers, built for the Soviet and later Russian ...

There is no doubt that Russia's Kirov class super-sized nuclear cruisers are charismatic fighting machines. Bristling with sensors and weaponry, and seemingly alien in design when compared to ...

When Katrina Kirov first picked up a tennis racket, the last thing she imagined was that she would be playing — and winning — the game a dozen years later. "I absolutely hated it," she recalled.

4 Points You Need to Know: The Soviet Union’s Kirov-class guided-missile cruisers, launched in the late 1970s, were among the largest non-aircraft carrier warships built since World War II.