As there was nothing revolutionary about the design of the class, Western observers felt they were created as a less expensive conventionally powered alternative to the nuclear-powered Kirov-class battlecruisers.

[4] Varyag is armed with sixteen P-1000 Vulkan (SS-N-12 Sandbox) anti-ship missiles (SSM) in two eight-missile launchers located amidships to either side of the superstructure.

For ASW, the cruisers is equipped with MG-332 Tigan-2T/Bull Nose hull-mounted LF and Platina/Horse Tail MF VDS sonar.

For electronic warfare, the ship is supplied with the Kol'cho suite with Gurzhor-A&B/Side Globe intercept and MR-404/Rum Tub jammers.

[4] Laid down on 31 July 1979 at 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant (Shipyard 445) in Mykolaiv as Chervona Ukraina ("Red Ukraine"), the vessel was launched in 28 August 1983, and commissioned on 16 October 1989.

[9] Between 2 and 6 October 1999, Varyag and destroyer Bystry visited Shanghai, China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the state.

[15][16] From 8 to 11 November 2011 Varyag, accompanied by the tanker Irkut, made a port visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, to commemorate servicemen killed in armed conflicts.

In 2013 the ship departed on a long voyage to the Mediterranean Sea, visiting Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), Salalah (Oman) and Alexandria (Egypt).

[20][22] In early January 2016, after a visit to India, Varyag entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to be deployed off Syria′s shore replacing sister ship Moskva,[23] in support of Russia's air operation in Syria that had begun in autumn 2015.

[24] On 21 April 2017, the ship visited Manila (Philippines), Cam Ranh (Vietnam), Sattahip (Thailand) and Singapore.

On 1 October 2019, Varyag, destroyer Admiral Panteleyev and tanker Pechenga embarked on a three-month deployment under the command of the Captain 1st Rank Aleksandr Shvarts,[25] visiting Muara, Brunei between 3–7 November[26] and Pusan, South Korea between 17 and 22 December,[27] before returning to the homeport on 23 December.

The auxiliary ships present in the area during the exercise were Dobrynya Nikitich-class icebreaker Sadko, as well as tugs MB-99, Andrey Stepanov and at least four others.

[41] On 1 May 2021, in a rare event two detachments of the Pacific Fleet embarked on distant deployments simultaneously, Varyag and Marshal Shaposhnikov as well as corvettes Sovershenny, Gromky and Aldar Tsidenzhapov.

[44] All in all, all active major surface combatants of the Pacific Fleet were deployed simultaneously, i.e. a cruiser, three destroyers and three corvettes.

Besides cruiser, it included destroyers Marshal Shaposhnikov and Admiral Panteleyev, corvettes Sovershenny, Gromky and Aldar Tsydenzhapov,[42] a nuclear submarine, (likely Omsk[48]) intelligence ship Kareliya[49][50] and tanker Irkut.

[54] In September 2021, Varyag conducted an exercise off Kamchatka along with nuclear submarine Omsk and 12 ships and support vessels of the Pacific Fleet.

[57] On 29 December 2021,[58] Varyag, along with destroyer Admiral Tributs and tanker Boris Butoma, left Vladivostok for a long deployment, consisting of port calls in several countries.

[61] On 18 January 2022, the taskforce anchored in Chabahar, and reports stated that the ships plan to hold joint-exercises with the Iranian and Chinese navies.

In October 2022, Varyag, Admiral Tributs and Boris Butoma departed the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal likely returning to their bases in the Pacific.