Sources: World’s largest cargo aircraft destroyed by Russian air attack
Sources have revealed that the world’s largest cargo aircraft, Antonov’s An-225 Mriya, has been burned by a Russian air attack on Kiev’s Hostomel cargo airport.
Two Antonov employees told Ukrainian radio Radio Svoboda that Moscow’s attack had burned down the plane, which was parked at the Ukrainian manufacturer’s base.
The news, confirmed by the mayor of Bucha – a suburb of Kiev close to the airfield – was then reported by Ukrainian defence reporter Illia Ponomarenko.
“The world’s greatest cargo aircraft, Ukraine’s Antonov An-225 Mriya, along with some other giant jets parked in Hostomel, was ruined amid a Russian attack at the Antonov Airfield,” he tweeted.
Ukrainian foreign affairs minister Dmytrio Kuleba confirmed the news, tweeting: “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!”
Responding to media speculation, Antonov said it couldn’t confirm the aircraft’s conditions before experts had inspected it.
The news has broken the hearts of aviation enthusiasts everywhere, who took it to Twitter to pay homage to the “the beautiful bird.”
“This plane brought much needed medical supplies to Canada in 2020,” said one user while another said the 84m plane it had brought 2.5 million Covid-19 tests just three weeks ago.