Was the largest plane that ever flew, the largest man-made racing car ever to cross the skies of this planet. a titan of 640 tons and 84 meters longO. And an emblem of the air for Ukraine that has now been reduced to pieces of burnt aluminum. The Ukrainian “Mriya” was destroyed by Russian troops and this Tuesday the images of how it was left were known. the name means “sleep” and the local authorities used the images as propaganda to embolden the resistance.
The AN-225 Mriya was attacked on February 27 while it was resting in a hangar inside one of the Gostómel airport, a city on the outskirts of kyiv. It was known that the damage to the aircraft had been serious, but only now – after the withdrawal of Vladimir Putin’s army from the Ukrainian capital – new images of the real final state of the plane.
The videos and photos are eloquent. And sad, for the Ukrainians who built from that epic of the aviation industry a national landmark. The plane was totally on fire, only one of the wings was saved and on turbine.
This Tuesday the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published a video on its social networks where it showed how that turbine that survived the fire moved due to the action of the wind and left a poetic phrase: “Like a phoenix, the Ukrainian Dream will rise from its ashes and will forever be a beacon of freedom and heroism“.
The destruction of the AN-225 was a symbolic loss in the first moments of the war. “This was the biggest plane in the world,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister tweeted on February 27, Dmytro Kuleba. “Russia may have destroyed our Mriya. But they can never destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. Venceremos”, he added.
The “Mriya” was the largest aircraft in the world, split at Gostómel. AP Photo
The aircraft was very popular among aviation enthusiasts, and people often visited airports to view your scheduled arrivals and departures.
The aircraft was undergoing scheduled maintenance, having arrived in kyiv on February 5 from Billund, Denmark. Now you see it literally party in the middle.
The largest plane in the world, destroyed by Russian troops in Ukraine. Reuters photo
Replacing it will be impossible. The manufacturer has already announced that the possible cost of a new aircraft of this type would be in the order of 3,000 million dollars.
Mriya, a Soviet racing car made in kyiv
The AN-225 is an invention of the aircraft factory Antonov, of what was the Soviet Union (USSR) that was based in kyiv. The “Mriya” first flew in 1988, in the middle of the Cold War.
The Soviet Union created it to serve as method of transportation to the space program in the outstanding race with the United States, which had fitted out one of its Boeing 747s.
The Ukrainian plane that the Russians destroyed was the heaviest in the world (640 tons) and the largest aerodyne by length (84 meters). Six people were needed to operate it.
The “Mriya” was 84 meters long, now only remnants of aluminum remain. AP Photo
Their six engines were able to reach 850 kilometers per hourclimb up to 11,000 meters and maintain flight for 15,400 kilometers with full tanks. On the other hand, her autonomy decreased to 4,000 kilometers when transporting 200 tons in her hold.
The plane had been of great help during the coronavirus pandemic. In April 2020, the “Mriya” delivered 103 tons of medicines from China to Kyiv to combat the spread of covid.
At the same time, it was a symbol of the country, considering that it participated in the last parade dedicated to Independence Day from Ukraine.
There were other Antonov flying giants that were luckier than the one that was burned at Gostomel. According to local media Fakty.ua, two AN-124-100 “Ruslan” managed to take off before the Russian attacks.
AN-124-100 “Ruslan” with flight number UR-82007 took off on February 23 from Gostomel airport to malaysia and another with flight number UR-82008 did so on February 13 and landed at the airport in the capital of KyrgyzstanBishkek, the same day.
From “Mriya”, the “Ukrainian dream”, remained a romantic image: one of its propellers in motion by the wind that the victims of the invasion pray for change.
DS