World renowned, largest cargo flight Antonov AN-225, also known as Mriya is now one of the victims of the Russia-Ukraine war. Russian troops destroyed the Mriya, (literally translated as dream in Ukrainian) near the airport of Kyiv. So what exactly happened and what is so special about this flight? Let’s find out.
As reported by the Ukrainian officials, the flight was damaged after Russian troops attacked Hostomel air base where the aircraft was parked, but the officials failed to mention the scale of the damage.
With a wingspan of over 290 ft, this largest flying cargo was not originally built for this job. Antonov AN-225 came into being amid a tense race to space between the US and USSR during the early 80s and designed in what was then the Ukrainian. It was initially meant to be designed as a part of Soviet aeronautical program to carry the Buran. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, this space shuttle embraced its new job as a flying cargo.
“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,” stated by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
According to the satellite images, it is clear that there was a huge strike in and around the area near the Hostomel airport. Even the NASA fire management system reported multiple fires near the airport on Sunday at 11:13 am captured from one of its satellites. Ukroboronprom, Ukraine state defence company stated that one of the engines of Mriya was under repair, that’s the reason they couldn’t take off in time.
They also stated that they will rebuild Mriya at Russian’s expense – costs about $3 Billion and over 5 years.
Antonov AN-225 was one of its kind, built by the Antonov company during USSR times. In its 30 years of service it helped various countries for relief supplies and even served during Covid pandemic. Mriya was also a popular aviation flight,in which crowds gather whenever it is on flight.
