Antonov-225, world’s largest plane, was destroyed in Russian attack, says Ukraine

The biggest plane in the world, the Antonov AN-225was destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraineaccording to Ukrainian officials, generating alarm and sadness among the aviation world in which the aircraft occupies an almost cult status.

The huge aircraft, called “Mriya”, or “dream” in Ukrainian, was parked at an airfield near Kiev when it was attacked by “Russian occupiers”, Russian officials said, adding that they would rebuild the plane.

“Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We will prevail!” wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in the twitter.

There was no independent confirmation of the aircraft’s destruction. A tweet from the Antonov Company said it could not verify the aircraft’s “technical condition” until it had been inspected by experts.

Ukrainian state defense company Ukroboronprom, which manages the Antonov, released a statement on Sunday saying the aircraft was destroyed but would be rebuilt at Russia’s expense – at an estimated cost of $3 billion.

“Restoration is estimated to require more than $3 billion and more than five years,” the statement said. “Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine’s aviation and air cargo sector.”

In a later statement, the company said the plane was on the ground near Kiev on Feb. 24 undergoing maintenance.

“According to the director of Antonov Airlines, one of the engines was dismantled for repairs and the plane was unable to take off that day, although the appropriate commands were given,” he said.

Russian forces claimed to have captured the Hostomel airfield, where the AN-225 was located, on Friday (25). A team from CNN on the ground witnessed Russian airborne troops taking positions.

If confirmed, the attack would mark a shocking end to an aircraft that has seen more than 30 years of service since the days of Soviet Union.

The AN-225 was sometimes designed to help with air transport during crises in other countries. After the 2010 earthquake in Haitishe delivered emergency supplies to the neighbor Dominican Republic. During the first days of the pandemic of Covid-19was used to transport medical supplies to affected areas.

Its popularity in the aviation world meant that the Antonov often drew large crowds wherever it went, particularly when it made star appearances at air shows.

Some of your fans went to social networks on Sunday to express his dismay at the aircraft’s destruction claims. “Mriya – You will always be remembered!” wrote aviation blogger Sam Chui on Twitter.

To this day, the Mriya remained the heaviest aircraft ever built. Powered by six turbofan engines, it has a maximum payload weight of 250 tonnes, which can be carried inside or on its back. It has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.

Only one AN-225 was built by the Kiev-based company Antonov, which came up with the project. It first took off in 1988 and has been in service ever since. Construction of a second plane was started but was never completed.

The history of the AN-225 begins in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Soviet Union was locked in a space race with the U.S.

In the late 1970s, the need arose to transport large and heavy loads from their assembly sites to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the sprawling spaceport in the deserts of Kazakhstan which was the launch pad for Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering space travel in 1961.

The payload in question was the Buran spacecraft, the Soviet Union’s answer to the Space Shuttle. NASA. Since at the time there were no planes capable of transporting it, the Antonov company was ordered to develop one.

See images of Russia’s attack on Ukraine