Mriya, The World's Largest Plane, Has Been Destroyed by Russia's Strikes on Ukraine

AFP

28 FEBRUARY 2022

The largest plane in the world – Ukraine's Antonov-225 cargo plane – was destroyed by Russian strikes outside Kyiv on the fourth day of Moscow's invasion, Ukraine's state-owned Ukroboronprom group said Sunday.

"Russian invaders destroyed the flagship of the Ukrainian aviation, the AN-225" at the Antonov airport in Gostomel near Kyiv, the group said in a statement.

The aircraft was unique to the world, at 84 meters long (276 feet) it could transport up to 250 metric tons (551,000 pounds) of cargo at a speed of up to 850 kilometers per hour (528 mph).

It had been named "Mriya", which means "dream" in Ukrainian.

"This was the world's largest aircraft, AN-225 'Mriya'," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Sunday.

"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!", he added.