The world’s largest cargo plane Antonov An-225 has been destroyed during a Russian attack in Ukraine. The plane was parked at an airfield near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say they will get it repaired.
The name of this huge aircraft is ‘Mriya’, which means ‘dream’ in Ukrainian. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “Russia may have destroyed our country, but it will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, independent, and democratic nation.” We will definitely win.
The company said in a tweet that they cannot verify the technical condition of the aircraft until the experts inspect it.
Ukraine’s state defense company Yukroboronprom said in a statement on Sunday that the aircraft had been destroyed, but would be rebuilt at Russian expense. It will cost about $3 billion. This work will take 5 years.
The company further said that our job is to ensure that the Russian Federation bears all the cost of its repair as it has caused heavy damage to the aviation sector and air cargo sector of Ukraine.
The Aircraft An-225 began in the 1960s and 70s when the space race between the Soviet Union and the US was on. By the late 1970s, the need arose to transport heavy loads from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the deserts of Kazakhstan.
No aircraft capable of carrying cargo existed at that time. Then the Antonov company was ordered to build an aircraft. This aircraft was completed in 1985. The company had also started work on the second plane, but it could not be completed.