According to a Telegraph article, Russia is “no longer an aircraft carrier nation.” So this raises the questionwhat has happened to the carrier’s airwing? What happened to Russia’s carrier-based MiG-29s? Russia is in a pickle. Russia views itself as a great power, and all great powers sport aircraft carriers, so Russia should, too. However, aircraft carriers are very expensive and difficult to operate. Russia inherited (technically stole) the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier as the Soviet Union disintegrated.