The An-225 will live again
This doesn’t mean much compared to the loss of life and homes, I guess. But it still strikes me as a “wiping your feet with the Terrible Towel” move by Russia, and that we haven’t even begun to see Ukrainians angry yet.
Ukraine has today officially revealed the fate of the largest aircraft on Earth. The country's authorities have confirmed that the world's only Antonov An-225 Mriya has been destroyed following Russian attacks.
As the aviation industry's heaviest and longest operational aircraft, the An-225 Mriya has attracted significant fanfare from across the globe. It was built by the Antonov Serial Production Plant while Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union and conducted its first flight on December 21, 1988. Only a single unit had ever been produced as a planned second one wasn’t delivered amid the downfall of the Soviet Union.
Meaning 'Dream' in Ukrainian, Mriya was developed to support the Soviet space program and carry Buran orbiters. After the dissolution of the union, the aircraft was placed into storage in 1994 but was restored by 2001, the same year that it broke a record on September 11 by carrying four main battle tanks, which was a record load of 253.82 tonnes of cargo.
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…There were reports that the plane was hit following an air assault operation in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast. The An-225, holding registration UR-82060, had been sitting at Hostomel Airport since February 5.
There’s no small irony in Putin’s armies destroying a great Soviet achievement in a war launched to more or less reconstitute the Soviet Union by force.
The An-225 filled a very small niche, to put in mildly, but when the world needed a ridiculously large cargo aircraft it did the job well. And, proudly wearing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine, it drew big crowds everywhere it went.
When this all over, a new one will be built. Maybe they’ll even finish two this time. And one of them should be named “Ghost of Kyiv.”