This is the AN-225, the largest plane in the world, which Russia has destroyed in the war with Ukraine

It has already left nearly 200 human losses, between civilians and soldiers, according to the official Ukrainian media. However, in the last hours the Government of the country has regretted the goodbye of what was a symbol of its infrastructure and transport. In one of the bombardments by the Russian army, the Antonov AN-2225, the world’s largest plane, has ended up being destroyed, making it very difficult to rebuild it in the short term.

“Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’ (nickname for the plane and which means dream in Ukrainian), but they can never destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We will prevail!” This is the message that the Ukrainian Foreign Minister has left to report the fall of what was an emblem of air navigation throughout the world.

The AN-225, known to be the largest aircraft in the world, will no longer hold that record in life… at least for the next few years. All after the bombing by Russian forces of various Ukrainian airbases, including Gostomel, the place where this ‘Mriya’ had resided in recent days.

This was the biggest plane in the world

With a wingspan from wing to wing of 88.4 meters and possessing 32 wheels and 6 engines, there was only one unit of this ship specimen in the world, which is why the loss has been so painful. A plane that on February 24 should have left the Gostomel airport, near Kiev, but due to the start of the Russian invasion it was left without taking off as a precaution.

A caution that has now put an end to this jewel of aeronautics and which also held the record for air cargo in a single transport with 189.9 tons. For its repair, the Ukrainian government estimates that it will have to invest close to 3,000 million euros, which will cost around five years of visits to aeronautical workshops.

The AN-225 was born as a USSR project with clear military transport objectives.

The work of a Soviet military project during the 1980s, the fall of the USSR halted its flight and construction goals, which finally came to light in 2002, when it transported 187.5 tons of food on a trip between Stuttgart and Oman. Since then it has carried out different missions, the last one on February 5, between Denmark and the Gostomel airport itself. Place where it has fallen, being one of the material symbols lost in the war and reason why the Ukrainian authorities now want to use it as encouragement in the face of Russian attacks.