Russia-Ukraine war: The An-225 aircraft was destroyed at the Antonov airport.
In the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the world's biggest plane - Ukraine's Antonov-225 - was destroyed in Russian strikes. Ukraine's state-owned Ukroboronprom said on Sunday that the plane was destroyed at the Antonov airport in Gostomel near Kyiv.
Here's everything you need to know about An-225:
The aircraft was unique to the world, at 84 metres long (276 feet) it could transport up to 250 tonnes (551,000 pounds) of cargo at a speed of up to 850 kilometres per hour (528 mph).
It had been named "Mriya", which means "dream" in Ukrainian.
Ukroboronprom estimated that restoring the "Mriya" would cost over $3 billion (2.7 billion euros) and could take over five years.
"Our mission is to ensure that these expenses are covered by Russia, which deliberately inflicted damage on Ukraine's aviation," the group said.
Initially built as part of the Soviet aeronautical programme, the An-225 made its first flight in 1988.
After years of not flying after the fall of the Soviet Union, the only existing copy made a test flight in 2001 in Gostomel, about 20 kilometres from Kyiv.
It has been operated by Ukraine's Antonov Airlines for cargo flights and was in high demand during the start of the Covid pandemic.
According to Antonov website, the plane can deliver extra-heavy oversize cargo to any point on the globe carrying it either inside the fuselage or on external stores.
It further said that "Mriya" has set 124 world and 214 national speed, altitude and weight-to-altitude records.
In 2010, An-225 carried the longest cargo item in the history of air transportation. Two wind turbine blades 42.1 metres each were delivered by air from China to Denmark for special testing.
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