The world’s largest plane, known as the “Mriya” (“Dream”) has been destroyed in Ukraine, video footage has confirmed.
Ukraine officials had announced last week that the Antonov AN-225 cargo plane had been hit by Russian attacks at Gostomel airport, near Kyiv, but images and video of the wrecked fuselage have only just emerged.
The footage was aired on Russia’s state-owned Channel 1 before being picked up by foreign media; while images were posted on Twitter by freelance correspondent @OsintTV.
Both show the crushed nose of the Antonov Airlines aircraft disembodied from the mid-section and wings, with a missile in the foreground.
Gunfire can be heard in the background of the Channel 1 clip and debris seen scattered all over the airfield, as a reporter describes the scene at Gostomel Airport.
“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!” wrote Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Twitter last Sunday.
“We will rebuild the plane. We will fulfil our dream of a strong, free, and democratic Ukraine,” added a message from the official @Ukraine Twitter account.
Russian troops had taken control of the airport in Gostomel, just outside of Kyiv, on 25 February.
The aircraft had been based there for repairs, according to Ukraine’s defence conglomerate, Ukroboronprom.
While the Airbus A380 is the world’s largest passenger jet, the An-225 has a wingspan of nearly 290 feet wide (to the A380’s 260), as well as six engines and 32 wheels.
The heaviest aircraft ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes (an Airbus A380’s is 575 tonnes), Mriya was designed in the 1980s to transport rockets for the Soviet space programme, and has operated as a cargo plane since 2001.
Due to its massive size, the plane’s take-offs and landings are extremely popular with aviation fans, with footage and photos shared widely on AV blogs.
In 2020, it had begun to be used for humanitarian flights and to deliver medical supplies to foreign nations.
“This is our Mriya now. Queen of the skies. Irreparable. We’ll build a new one. Bigger and better. Our engineers on it now and donations coming in,” tweeted Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko.
“This is a great loss for humanity, Whenever there was a natural disaster, #AN225 #Mriya was there to bring supplies and humanitarian aid. Now she’s gone,” tweeted @TrillionairesMM.
A clip of the titanic plane landing at Poland’s Rzeszow Airport went viral in January, showing it cutting a clear path through thick fog to reveal blue sky.
