Russian troops destroy world’s largest freighter
The Russian Armed Forces during their attempts to land at the Hostomel Airport near Kyiv destroyed the An-225 Mriya aircraft, which was the largest freighter in the world. This has been officially confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities.
Starting from Sunday, 27 February, the An-225 Mriya aircraft that can carry up to 640 tonnes of freight has ceased to exist. It was destroyed by the Russian troops during the Battle of Hostomel, where the base of Antonov Airlines is located. “Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’ (it is a wordplay since the word ‘mriya’ means a dream in Ukrainian – IntermodalNews). But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We will win!” stated Dmytro Kuleba, minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine. The authorities of Ukraine intend to restore the aircraft for
The An-225 aircraft was produced in the late 1980s as a part of the Soviet space programme. It performed the first flight in December 1988. Starting from the early 2000s, the Mriya aircraft has been moving various types of abnormal freight under the brand of Antonov Airlines, the Ukrainian airfreight carrier. There is also the second An-225 aircraft but it is unfinished. It is ready for 60-70 per cent. In 2016 the Antonov State Enterprise, the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer, was discussing the possibility of completing the second freighter of this type with China airspace. According to the preliminary estimations, the project can cost more than 300 million dollars. However, the parties have not succeeded in the negotiations.