Former communist country holds ship inside ancient city (4)
I believe the answer is:
ussr
'former communist country' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'ship inside ancient city' is the wordplay.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'inside' is an insertion indicator.
'ancient city' becomes 'ur' (ancient Sumerian city state).
'ss' going into 'ur' is 'USSR'.
'holds' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ussr that I've seen before include "Former Soviet Union" , "Country established in1922 and dissolved in 1991, in short" , "Former soviet states" , "In brief, former Soviet federation" , "Former federation of Russial and other states" .)