Updated 28 February 2022 at 14:50 IST
Ukraine confirms Russia has destroyed world's largest aircraft AN-225 'Mriya'
The Ukrainian officials on Sunday informed that the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225, has been destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- World News
- 2 min read
The Ukrainian officials on Sunday informed that the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225, has been destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to CNN, the enormous aircraft, named ‘Mriya’, or ‘dream’ in Ukrainian, was parked at an airfield near Kyiv when it was attacked by Russians. The Ukrainian government, including its Foreign Minister, took to Twitter and mourned the loss of their aircraft. Ukraine also vowed to rebuild the majestic aircraft.
This was the world’s largest aircraft, AN-225 ‘Mriya’ (‘Dream’ in Ukrainian). 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! pic.twitter.com/TdnBFlj3N8
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 27, 2022
It is pertinent to mention that there has been no independent confirmation of the aircraft’s destruction. According to a Twitter post, the Antonov Company stated that it could not verify the “technical condition” of the aircraft until it had been inspected by experts. Ukrainian state defence company Ukroboronprom, which manages Antonov, on Sunday, separately issued a statement saying that the aircraft had been destroyed but would be rebuilt at Russia's expense.
“The restoration is estimated to take over 3 billion USD 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,” it added.
Russia-Ukraine war
Meanwhile, it is pertinent to mention that at present, there is a situation of severe devastation in Ukraine. At least 352 Ukrainian civilians have died in the Russian invasion including 14 children, said Ukraine’s Interior Ministry on Monday, adding that around 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been injured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 announced the launch of a ‘special’ military operation in Ukraine, saying that the forces would ‘demilitarise’ the neighbouring nation without hurting civilians. However, Ukraine’s armed forces, which is significantly smaller than Russia, has repeatedly posted about the damage to residential buildings and civilian casualties as the enemy troops continue to attack for the fifth day in a row.
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(Image: AP/Twitter)
Published By : Bhavya Sukheja
Published On: 28 February 2022 at 14:50 IST