This was the world’s largest aircraft, AN-225 ‘Mriya’.
Ukraine’s ‘Mriya,’ the world’s largest plane, was destroyed
Ukraine’s Antonov-225 freight jet, the world’s largest plane, was destroyed by Russian strikes near Kyiv on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion, according to Ukraine’s state-owned Ukroboronprom group.
On an airfield near Kyiv, Russian occupants destroyed the world’s largest plane, the “Mriya” (The Dream). The plane will be rebuilt. “We will fulfill our dream of a strong, free, and democratic Ukraine,” Ukraine posted from their official Twitter account, mourning the jet’s loss.
Along with the tweet, Ukraine’s account included a photo of the plane with the caption: “They destroyed the greatest plane, but our Mriya will never perish.”
According to the news agency AFP, weapons maker Ukroboronprom projected that rebuilding the “Mriya” would cost more than $3 billion (2.7 billion euros) and take more than five years.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Sunday, “This was the world’s largest aeroplane, the AN-225 ‘Mriya.’”
Our ‘Mriya’ could have been destroyed by Russia. They will, however, never be able to derail our vision of a robust, free, and democratic European state. “We’re going to win!” he added.
The aircraft was one-of-a-kind in the world, measuring 84 metres (276 feet) in length and capable of transporting up to 250 tonnes (551,000 pounds) of cargo at a top speed of 850 kilometres per hour (528 mph). It was given the name “Mriya,” which means to “dream” in Ukrainian.
The An-225 was produced as part of the Soviet aviation programme and flew for the first time in 1988.
After years of not flying since the Soviet Union’s demise, the lone surviving copy made a test flight in Gostomel, some 20 kilometres from Kyiv, in 2001.
It was used for freight flights by Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines and was in high demand at the commencement of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Mriya has remained in service, with crowds forming outside airports only to witness the spectacle of the huge plane landing and taking off. Why wouldn’t the crowds show up? It was larger than the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and the larger Airbus A380. It was the world’s longest and heaviest aeroplane. The cargo plane weighed 310 tonnes when it was totally empty, with a wingspan of 88 metres and a length of 84 metres. It had ferried the Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle attached to its top and could carry a payload weight of 250 tonnes inside and out.
When the jet landed in Hyderabad for the first and only time in India in 2016, it grabbed national attention and crowds at a far-flung airport. The An-225 made a refuelling stop en way from Turkmenistan to Perth, Australia. India’s relationship with the An-124, the An-225’s parent plane, has grown stronger, with the first eight rakes of the Delhi Metro being carried in from Germany onboard.
The world, on the other hand, does not appear to be very hopeful. Only one Mriya was ever built; a second one has been sitting in a hangar in Kyiv for over two decades, incomplete. Since the news broke, tributes have started pouring in. Mriya was a live entity to most who had seen her fly or even seen her stationery. While the international community condemns the violence, the world mourns the loss of the massive aeroplane.
Mriya, may you rest in peace (1988-2022). You were certainly a one-of-a-kind individual.
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