Russia's naval group, consisting of the Admiral Kuznetsov, the Pyotr Veliky battle cruiser, the Severomorsk and the Admiral Kulakov anti-submarine destroyer, and support vessels, left for Syria in October 2016 to participate in anti-terror operations.

On January 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the group to return to Russia's Northern Fleet base after a new Syrian ceasefire was announced in late December 2016. The group returned to the base on February 8.

"I think, [repair works] will begin this year," Bursuk said, adding that a fault detection would be carried out to determine repair dateline.

Bursuk pointed out that the amount of funds, planned to be spent on renovation, would be "sufficient to ensure its maintenance and restoration of its technical readiness."