All about the world’s largest plane 'Mriya', destroyed by Russia in Ukraine invasion

Ukraine-Russia: At 276 feet, "Mriya" could transport up to 250 tonnes of cargo at a speed of up to 850 km per hour..

Mriya, the world’s largest plane, was destroyed by Russian forces on Sunday outside Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. The Antonov-225 cargo plane was the flagship of Ukrainian aviation.

The news of the destruction of ‘Mriya’ was confirmed by Ukraine's state-owned Ukroboronprom group.

"Russian invaders destroyed the flagship of the Ukrainian aviation, the AN-225" at the Antonov airport in Gostomel near Kyiv, the group said in a statement.

Here’s all you need to know about the now-destroyed world largest plane ‘Mriya’:

1. AN-225 ‘Mriya’ was 276 feet long and could transport up to 250 tonnes of cargo at a speed of up to 850kmph.
2. The plane was named ‘Mriya’, which means "dream" in Ukrainian. It made its first flight in 1988 and operated till 1991.
3. ‘Mriya’ held several records including the title of the heaviest aircraft ever built, and largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.
4. ‘Mriya’ was built as a part of the Soviet aeronautical program. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the lone operational An-225 was placed in storage in 1994.
5. Ukraine's Antonov Airlines operated the plane for cargo flights and was in high demand in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
6. After the fall of the Soviet Union, ‘Mriya’ didn’t fly for several years. The only existing copy made a test flight in 2001 in Gostomel, about 20 km from Kyiv.
7. Weapons manufacturer Ukroboronprom said that restoring the ‘Mriya’ would cost an estimated $3 billion and could take over five years.
8. The plane garnered a lot of attention and public interest and people would frequent airports to see ‘Mriya’ take off or land.