Russian Forces Destroy World’s Largest Aircraft In Ukraine

The aviation community has lost the world’s largest air freighter after Russian forces destroyed it while commandeering an airport outside of the Ukrainian capital, according to reports. 

Antonov Airport (also known as Hostomel) is an international cargo airport and testing facility in Ukraine, located in the northwestern suburb of Kyiv. The airport was seized this weekend by Russian forces, and in the process, the AN-225, the world’s largest operating aircraft, was severely damaged. 

Ukraine’s foreign minister tweeted Sunday that “Russia may have destroyed” the AN-225, “but they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free, and democratic European state. We shall prevail!”

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! pic.twitter.com/TdnBFlj3N8

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 27, 2022

Ukraine’s official Twitter account confirms the plane was “destroyed by Russian occupants on an airfield near Kyiv. We will rebuild the plane. We will fulfill our dream of a strong, free, and democratic Ukraine.”

The biggest plane in the world “Mriya” (The Dream) was destroyed by Russian occupants on an airfield near Kyiv. We will rebuild the plane. We will fulfill our dream of a strong, free, and democratic Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/Gy6DN8E1VR

— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 27, 2022

Ukrainian state arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom also confirmed in a Facebook post, “Russian invaders destroyed the legendary An-225.” They explained the plane’s “restoration will cost more than $3 billion and will take a long time.” 

Here are alleged images of the destroyed AN-225, many of which were posted on Twitter. 

Some reports saying that AN225 was destroyed pic.twitter.com/5Jswr0Uocg

— Galo 🇪🇸 💙💛 (@gvspotter) February 27, 2022

AN225 RIP pic.twitter.com/ThAgBRh2PZ

— ZOKA (@200_zoka) February 27, 2022

It looks like world’s largest cargo aircraft An-225 has been destroyed, Hope It’s not true but you can see something that resembles wings in the burning Hangar pic.twitter.com/DBzeFOgVKM

— Fighterman_FFRC (@Fighterman_FFRC) February 27, 2022

Ukroboronprom explains the plane was “under repair” during the Russian invasion, “so it did not have time to fly out of Ukraine.”