World’s largest cargo plane ‘destroyed’ during Russian invasion, Ukrainian Foreign Minister says
The largest plane in the world — Ukraine’s Antonov-225 cargo plane — was destroyed by Russian strikes outside Kyiv on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine’s state-owned Ukroboronprom group said Sunday.
The plane was heavily damaged in fighting with Russian troops at the airport outside Kyiv where it was parked.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya has a wingspan of 290ft and a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes, making it the heaviest aircraft ever.
The plane, dubbed “Mriya”, which is Ukrainian for “the dream”, was hit by Russian troops on an airfield near Kyiv, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said.
“Russia may have destroyed our Mriya. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state,” Mr Kuleba said.
The Ukroboronprom company said in a statement that the Antonov-225 was “destroyed” but would be repaired.