Ukrainian forces have recaptured the shattered remains of the Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft, as Russian troops retreat from the Kyiv (Kiev) region.
A national icon, the mammoth aircraft was built during the Soviet era in 1985, when it was given the codename ‘Cossack’ by NATO, to transport Buran-class space shuttles on its back, but was repurposed after the fall of the communist regime to move cargo no other aircraft could handle.
This has included train cars, power plant generators, wind turbine blades, multiple tanks, and, during U.S. President Joe Biden’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, military helicopters — as well as massive quantities of natural disaster and other emergency relief, notably coronavirus-related medical and personal protection equipment in recent years.
This all came to an end shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine this year, however, with the An-225 — sometimes mistaken for a crudely Photoshopped image on first viewing due to its almost comedic size and huge number of wheels — being destroyed during the battle for Antonov Airport by Hostomel (Gostomel).
This picture taken on August 3rd, 2020 shows a view of the Soviet-built Antonov Airlines Antonov An-225 Mriya strategic airlift cargo aircraft, the world’s largest cargo plane, as it lands at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv. The aircraft arrived in Israel carrying U.S. Oshkosh military vehicles, which were to be fitted to be used Iron Dome systems purchased by the U.S. military, as per an August 2019 agreement. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian serviceman walks by an Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the Antonov airport in Hostomel, Ukraine, Saturday, April 2nd, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
With the Russians having now withdrawn from the Kyiv region — either because they have achieved their goals in the area or because their position became untenable in the face of heavy losses, depending on whether one listens to the Russian or Ukrainian-Western narrative — the airport has now been recaptured by Ukrainian forces, and the wrecked cargo plane along with it.
A scene of fierce fighting in which Russia’s elite VDV paratroopers are rumoured to have taken heavy losses, Ukrainian forces did not let the dispiriting sight of the An-225’s remains lower their mood too much, with celebrating troops filming themselves burning a captured Russian flag in front of it.
The world’s largest aircraft, the Ukraine-built Antonov An-225 Mriya, touches down at Perth Airport on May 15th, 2016.
The six-engine aircraft, built to transport the Soviet space shuttle the Buran, is now used for cargo no other plane can handle and on this flight to Perth it has carried a large generator purchased by a Western Australian resources company. (GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian serviceman touches the nose of an Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, Ukraine, Saturday, April 2nd, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Incredibly, there is a chance that the one-of-a-kind aircraft could return to the sky once the conflict subsides, with the Ukrainian government having vowed to “rebuild the plane” as a point of principle.
Despite the An-255’s 1980s vintage, there is a realistic chance this could actually be achievable, as a second airframe — its construction halted by the collapse of first the Soviet economy and then the Soviet Union itself — remains in Ukrainian custody in Kyiv, with its completion long a pipe dream for many.
This combination of pictures created and taken on August 3rd, 2020 shows a view of the Soviet-built Antonov Airlines Antonov An-225 Mriya strategic airlift cargo aircraft, the world’s largest cargo plane, as it lands at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian servicemen stand next to an Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, Ukraine, Saturday, April 2nd, 2022. At the entrance of the Antonov Airport in Hostomel Ukrainian troops manned their positions, a sign they are in full control of the runway that Russia tried to storm in the first days of the war. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)