2 injured in fire on Russian aircraft carrier

MOSCOW - Two people were injured in a fire at Russia's sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which is currently being repaired, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"The fire broke out during welding works in one of the compartments on the ship," the ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service said.

Two servicemen, who participated in the containment of the fire from the very beginning, received non-life-threatening injuries of the respiratory tract and were given medical assistance, it said.

The blaze has been contained and there are no munitions or weapons on board, it said.

TASS news agency reported earlier that three people were injured in the incident.

The repairs on Admiral Kuznetsov were scheduled to be completed in 2020, and the ship was expected to return to the navy in 2021, but the date of the re-commission was later postponed to 2022, according to TASS.

The 305-meter-long Admiral Kuznetsov with a maximum displacement of 58,600 tons was launched in 1985 and entered service in 1991.

The warship carried out its first-ever combat mission in 2016 in the Mediterranean, fighting Islamic State terrorists in Syria.

It returned to its home base in February 2017, and the repairs and upgrades started in 2018 in northwest Russia's Murmansk Region.

In October last year, a floating dock accident injured four workers at the plant where the aircraft carrier was being repaired, causing minor damages to the ship.