The attack on Ukraine resulted in the destruction of the largest An-225 cargo plane, named the Mriya.The Mriya’s chief pilot, Dmitry Antonov, arrived at the defeated airport after Russian troops had just retreated from the summer field where the planes were landing.

Aircraft destroyed: only wreckage of the legendary An-225 remains

There were also other aircraft, such as An-124s, on the territory of the crashed Antonov airport in Gostomel.

Could the plane have been saved?

At the end of January, NAMSA through Antonov Logistics Salis approached the company’s general director Bychkov with a proposal to relocate the entire air fleet to Leipzig in Germany with all personnel, crew and spare parts. According to Dmitry, even before the war started the airport management could have moved the planes to a safe location and it would have saved them. The company’s management left the country themselves two weeks before the invasion and went to Germany, but they did not bother about the planes.It is worth mentioning that Antonov immediately when Russia invaded Ukraine suggested taking the Mriya abroad to prevent its loss. But the airline and NATO ignored his request.

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An idea from the 1980s

The Mriya aircraft was first designed in the 1980s. Its main purpose was to transport parts for spacecraft. Mriya took part in transportation of shuttle Buran, which was never used later. Mriya was used for delivery of rocket-carrier Energia, because the launch site was located far from populated areas. After USSR disintegration the program was stopped and “Buran-225” was also forgotten. However, in 2000-s the cargo aircraft was recalled again. In total 20 million dollars were spent to restore “An-225”. For the first time the plane took off again after finishing of restoration works on the 7th of May 2001. It also transported medication and necessary equipment for the treatment of covid infection.