Russia has been marking Aviation Day on Sunday and the country's only aircraft carrier 'Admiral Kuznetsov' is at sea again. The largest ship of the Russian fleet is home to 6,000 servicemen.
Despite the cold gray waves of the Barents Sea splashing on deck, it is very cosy down below and even smells of fresh-baked bread. More than a thousand loafs are baked every day. “Baking bread at sea is different. The dough behaves differently because of the rolling. Besides, not everyone can bear that rolling,” said Yury Fedoseenko, the bakery head. Denis is an experienced sailor. He has been serving for 18 months and isn't seasick any more. He knows all the ins and outs of the ship with its 16 KM of corridors. “Now I now how to get here or there. It's sort of a programmed,” explained Denis Smirnov, seaman. The carrier's superstructure is the size of a block of flats standing on a large square – the flight deck. Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is capable of holding 50 aircraft and two helicopters. The ship has a special team to frighten the seagulls away – if a bird gets into fighter's turbine the plane could crash. Russia's only aircraft carrier is a floating city indeed and officers have to compete to serve there.