On November 1, 1989, Sukhoi Design Bureau test pilot Viktor Georgievich Pugachev made the first landing aboard the heavy aircraft carrier Tbilisi (later known as Admiral Kuznetsov of the Soviet Union) on a Su-27K (later adopted for service as the Su-33).

On November 1, 1989, Sukhoi Design Bureau test pilot Viktor Georgievich Pugachev made the first landing aboard the heavy aircraft carrier Tbilisi (later known as Admiral Kuznetsov of the Soviet Union) on a Su-27K (later adopted for service as the Su-33).