In Addition To So Many Other Tragedies, Ukraine's 'Dream' May Have Fallen To Russian Attack

In light of the many tragedies we are seeing arising out of the wanton destruction of Ukraine by Russia, it almost seems silly to note that a one-of-a-kind aviation treasure also appears to have been destroyed. 

While still not quite official, numerous reports strongly suggest that the world’s largest operational transport aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 ‘Mriya’ (‘Dream’ in Ukrainian), may have been destroyed in the Russian invasion. The massive six-engine cargo transport was the only one of its kind, after insufficient money was allowed to finish an in-process second iteration nearly twenty years ago. 

The US-funded media Radio Liberty shared a satellite picture, online, supposedly showing the aircraft in flames. Based at Antonov home, Hostomel Airport, the facility was reportedly struck by missiles over the weekend. Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, and  Ukroboronprom, Antonov's parent organization also confirmed its destruction. 

Mriya was an extraordinary bit of aeronautical engineering... the vehicle held the absolute world record for an airlifted single-item payload of 418,830 lbs, as well as the record for an airlifted total payload of 559,580 lbs.

Those in need of such heavy-lift capabilities reportedly paid about $30,000 per hour for the beast... We’ll update this report when more information becomes available. 

FMI: https://web.archive.org/web/20170103004600/http://www.antonov.com/aircraft/transport-aircraft/an-225-mriya?lang=en