Russia's only aircraft carrier catches fire

A fire broke out on the flagship of the Russian Navy, according to local media reports.

The blaze started on the Admiral Kuznetsov while it was docked at the Zvyozdochka shipyard in Murmansk, located in the far north-western part of Russia, news agency Tass said.

An emergency services source told the agency on Thursday morning that 20 people had been evacuated, the fire was extinguished and that "there were no casualties."

Alexei Rakhmanov, who heads the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), which is overseeing the renovation of the vessel, told RIA Novosti that the incident occurred during repair work.

Russia's only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, has been on the scene of other mishaps, according to RIA. In October 2018, its deck was damaged by a crane which fell on it as the ship was being launched. In December 2019, two people died and over a dozen were injured following a fire that had started in the hold.