Video confirms world’s largest plane Antonov An-225 Mriya destroyed

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has claimed an iconic victim with a devastating video confirming the end of the world’s biggest aircraft.

Dramatic pictures and video have confirmed the end of the world’s largest plane, with footage showing the smouldering fireball wreckage.

The Antonov An-225 was destroyed after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s soldiers stormed the Hostomel airfield on the outskirts of Kyiv earlier this month, The Sun reported.

Known as Mriya or “dream” in Ukrainian - it was the heaviest aircraft ever built at 314 tonnes and had been in service for more than three decades.

After reports emerged last week that the mighty plane had been ruined amid a fiery battle for control of the airfield, pictures and video of the smoking wreckage have begun circulating on social media.

Channel One report from the Gostomel airfield. The footage captured the wreckage of the largest transport aircraft in the world An-225 "Mriya"

Video : Channel One https://t.co/7TlKiuOmUN pic.twitter.com/HNojmtyLOW

— OsintTv (@OsintTv) March 4, 2022

The airport was blitzed as Russian troops targeted airports and airbases around Ukraine after Putin launched a bloody invasion of Ukraine in February.

A satellite image shows the plane parked at the airport intact on February 20.

But a further image captured just days later on February 28 reveals significant damage to the airport’s hangars and debris from the attack.

These combination satellite images shows Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Ukraine on February 20, 2022 (top) and on February 28, 2022, after being damaged. Picture: Planet Labs PBC/AFP

In a tweet, the Antonov Company said it could not verify the “technical condition” of the aircraft until it had been “inspected by experts” - despite sharing footage of smoke billowing from the scene with the caption “no no no no...”.

Last week, Ukrainian state defence company Ukroboronprom — which manages Antonov — vowed the aircraft would be rebuilt using cash from Moscow.

“The restoration is estimated to take over $US3 billion ($A4.1 billion) and over five years,” the statement said.

“Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine’s aviation and the air cargo sector.

“According to the director of Antonov Airlines, one of the engines was dismantled for repairs and the plane wasn’t able to take off that day, although the appropriate commands were given.”

The giant aircraft previously delivered relief supplies following the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and medical aid during the Covid pandemic.

The massive plane helped deliver aid around the world. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

Ukraine vowed to rebuild the plane with Russian money. Picture: Genya Savilov/AFP

Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba shared a photo of the plane as he insisted Ukraine would not give up.

“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!” he wrote on Twitter.

The destroying of the plane came a week before Russian forces killed the mayor of Gostomel, the town that is home to the strategic Antonov airport.

“The head of Gostomel, Yuri Illich Prylypko, died while distributing bread to the hungry and medicine to the sick,” the city said on its Facebook page.

Mr Prylypko was shot dead along with two others, it said, without specifying when.

“No one forced him to go under the occupiers’ bullets,” it said.

“He died for his people, for Gostomel. He died a hero.”

Gostomel, northwest of Kyiv, is home to the strategic Antonov military airport, which was the site of fierce battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the first days of the war.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished here with permission.