In addition to our continued coverage of the fate of the Antonov An-225 Mriya (“Dream”) the largest cargo plane on the planet, we can now report that the first verifiable image of the plane since Russia invaded Ukraine shows that its tail remains intact, according to The Drive. While we don’t know what happened to the rest of the huge jet, there is at least some encouraging news given that most evaluations concluded the plane was completely obliterated. Fixed assault over the previous six days on the plane’s home airfield has culminated in its bunker being breached by what was almost certainly a cylindrical explosive charge.
Reports of the plane being entirely demolished even came after its owner admitted that it couldn’t guarantee the jet’s condition until it had a chance to check it, despite satellite and drone images indicating that its covering had been hit by explosives.
Of course, investigating the plane has been rendered impossible since the airport has been one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the crisis thus far, with Russia deploying some of its best troops to the airport in order to set up a strategic position adjacent to Kyiv. Nevertheless, despite its rugged structure, there appears to be a ray of hope for the remaining plane, which acts as a major amount of pleasure for the Ukrainian people. Even if it has lasted this far, there is no knowing what the future outlook contains or when an independent Ukraine will be able to reintroduce it into the air once the fighting is ended. However, we all know it hasn’t entirely burnt to the ground, and there is always the opposite An-225 airframe that remains incomplete but may conceivably be completed, although at a high cost.
The specific status of the airport is unclear at the moment, although there are allegations that the Russians have recovered it as part of a massive push emerging from Belarus that is now underway. Even if the An-225 is too damaged to fly again, it might serve as a vital component contributor for such an undertaking. The actual state of the airport is unclear at this moment, although there are allegations that the Russians have recovered it as part of the extremely tremendous assault emerging from Belarus that is currently underway.