The world’s largest cargo plane, Antonov-225 of Ukraine was destroyed by Russian strikes outside Kyiv on the 4th day of Moscow’s invasion, according to Ukraine’s state-owned Ukroboronprom group. The Mriya (NATO reporting name: Cossack) was designed at the end of Cold War and its purpose was to carry the “Buran” Soviet space shuttle and parts of the “Energia” rocket.
Mourning the destruction of the aircraft, Ukraine from their official Twitter handle said, “The biggest plane in the world “Mriya” (The Dream) was destroyed by Russian occupants on an airfield near Kyiv. We will rebuild the plane. We will fulfil our dream of a strong, free, and democratic Ukraine.”
The Antonov An-225 Mriya is reported to have the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service and the largest cargo in operational service.
They have also shared a picture of the plane and captioned it with “They burned the biggest plane but our Mriya will never perish.” As per reports, weapons manufacturer Ukroboronprom estimated that restoring the “Mriya” would cost more than $3 billion (2.7 billion euros) and take more than five years.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter and wrote, “This was the world’s largest aircraft, AN-225 ‘Mriya’ (‘Dream’ in Ukrainian). 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 shall prevail!”
The aircraft was one-of-a-kind in the world, measuring 84 metres (276 feet) in length and capable of transporting up to 250 tonnes (551,000 pounds) of cargo at a top speed of 850 kilometres per hour (528 mph). It was given the name “Mriya,” which means to “dream” in Ukrainian. The An-225 was built as part of the Soviet aeronautical programme and flew for the first time in 1988.
