BREAKING: Antonov AN-225 Mriya confirmed as destroyed

The worlds largest plane suspected of being destroyed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent attacks on Hostomel airport has been confirmed by the official twitter account of Ukraine only a few minutes ago.

The AN-225 originally designed in the Soviet Union to transport the Energiya-Buran rocket, a space shuttle like system designed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, after the fall of the Soviet Union the aircraft sat abandoned for a few years. It was resurrected in 1998 and started flying comercial cargo missions for Antonov Airlines, a cargo airline started by the Antonov design bureau.

The aircraft attracted huge crowds everywhere it went with people traveling just to see this huge aircraft, it was also put on display at many airshows such as the Farnborough airshow and the Paris airshow.

The Antonov company said the AN-225 was still intact only 2 days ago after the first Russian attack, but it did not survive the second attack, it got hit by a cruise missile and subsequently got burned. Hostomel airport is reportedly controlled by the Russian military though some reports suggest it was recaptured the Ukrainian forces.

The aircraft is the largest in the world and holds many records such as:

The world record for an airlifted single-item payload of 189,980 kg (418,830 ib) and an airlifted total of 253,820 kg (559,580 ib),

Carrying the heaviest single cargo item ever sent by air fright, a generator for a gas power plant in Armenia, this weighed in at 189 tons (417,000 ibs).

It also carried the worlds longest piece of air cargo, two 42.1 m (138 ft) test wind turbine blades from Tianjin, China to Skrydsturp, Denmark

UPATED MARCH 1st: according to satellite imagery the tail of the AN-225 Mriya appears to be intact.

Image showing a large aircraft under a hanger with a curved roof on fire, it also makes it clear that a missile hit it.

The Ukrainian government said in a statement that the plane was going to be restored at the expense of the occupier (Russia), it will take mor than $3 billion over 5 years. At the time of the invasion the aircraft was undergoing maintenance in Kyiv and was not able to be flown before the invasion of the country by Russian forces. The Antonov Company’s twitter account has given an update on the status of Mriya saying that until the aircraft has been inspected by experts, they cannot report on the technical condition.

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