During the fighting at Gostomel airport near Kiev, the world's largest AN-225 Mriya transport aircraft was destroyed.
"The flagship of Ukrainian aviation, the legendary AN–225 Mriya, was destroyed. It happened at Antonov Airport in Gostomel near Kiev, where the plane was located," Ukroboronprom reported.
Gostomel airfield is part of the Antonov airline complex. The airfield is used by both civil and experimental aviation.
The newspaper VZGLYAD writes that early Antonov machines were built here and made their first flights, which are still used all over the world, including the AN-124. This is an airfield with a huge runway (three and a half thousand meters), occupying hundreds of hectares. It operates and is equipped with everything necessary for take-off and landing of heavy military transport aircraft.
From a military point of view, Gostomel has a number of advantages over other Kiev airfields (Zhuliany and Borispol). First of all, it is not used so often, there are much fewer service personnel and people in general. It is located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, where the main administrative buildings of Kiev are located.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the death of An-225 "Mriya" near Kiev.
As for the legendary AN-225 "Mriya– - this is a Soviet transport jet aircraft with an extra large payload. It was one of the largest aircraft in the world. The reason for the construction of the AN-225 was the need to create an air transport system for the Buran reusable spacecraft project.
