The sole operating example of the world’s largest aircraft – the Antonov An-225 – has been destroyed in fighting for the Antonov Airlines base at Hostomel airport, Kyiv, the BBC reports, quoting Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Originally built to transport the Soviet Space Shuttle, the six-engined An-225 was used by Ukraine-based Antonov Airlines mainly to carry outsize loads, including many related to the Covid pandemic.
In a tweet, Kueba said: “This was the world’s largest aircraft, AN-225 ‘Mriya’ (‘Dream’ in Ukrainian). 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!”