World’s largest airplane reportedly destroyed in Ukraine

Multiple reports indicate that the largest plane in the world has been destroyed during the war in Ukraine. The one-of-a-kind Antonov An-225 was a victim of the Russian invasion the first day of the war February 24 while it was undergoing maintenance in a hangar near the Antonov facilities at Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. One of its six engines was dismantled at the time.

On Sunday Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that the aircraft had been destroyed. Photos show what appear to be the plane burning. The registration number was UR-82060 and it first flew in 1988.

Ukrainian state defense company Ukroboronprom, which manages Antonov, issued a statement Sunday.

According to the director of Antonov Airlines, one of the engines was dismantled for repairs and the plane wasn’t able to take off that day, although the appropriate commands were given.

Russian invaders destroyed the flagman of Ukrainian aviation – the legendary An-225 “Dream”. This happened at Antonov Airport in Gostomel near Kiev, where the plane was. Ukraine will put all its efforts to make this work paid by the state-aggressor. But they will surely be restored. The occupants destroyed the plane, but they can’t destroy our common dream. She will surely be reborn. Estimated calculations will cost more than $3 billion and more than 5 years. Our task is to make these costs covered by the Russian Federation, which caused deliberate damage to Ukrainian aviation and freight aviation sector.

On Sunday morning U.S. time Antonov wrote on Twitter:

Update on the information of #AN225 “Mriya” aircraft: Currently, until the AN-225 has been inspected by experts, we cannot report on the technical condition of the aircraft.

According to Wikipedia the Antonov An-225 Mriya held multiple records which included the heaviest aircraft ever built, and largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. Other records were weight and length of cargo and the capability to carry up to 640 tons (705 short tons).

Antonov began the process of building a second An-225 but it was never finished. Reports indicate it was about 60 to 70 percent complete the last time it was worked on in 2009.

Here is a video of the An-225 landing at Anchorage:

🇺🇦 Minister of Foreign Affairs confirms the ‘Mriya’ was destroyed at Gostomel by enemy fire. Glad we got to see her more than a dozen times in Anchorage in 2020 enroute to/from Montreal and Toronto.#AvGeek #planespotting pic.twitter.com/b5INM3mS2a

— MarkyMark (@Fiicaan) February 27, 2022

The An-225’s little sister, the four-engine An-124, has been used many times to transport firefighting helicopters from the United States to Chile and Australia. One was even used in 2020 to haul three New Jersey Forest Fire Service engines and 10 firefighters to San Francisco to help battle wildfires in California. Volga Dnepr operates 12 An-124s.