The legendary An-225 Mriya was supposed to take off from Gostomel on the morning of February 24 after the engine repair, but did not have time because the sky was closed.
This was announced on the air of the marathon of national TV channels on March 22 by the speaker of the enterprise Larisa Drozdova.
“We were unable to lift Mriya into the sky, because at 05.00 on February 24, Russian troops began to bombard airports and airfields in Ukraine and Antonov State Enterprise risked losing 20 lives of the aircraft crew,” explained Larisa Drozdova.
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The management of the enterprise managed to transport five Ruslans by February 23. The last of them left for Leipzig at 23:51 on February 23.
– Mriya was standing in Gostomel, because the engine, which needed repair, was installed late in the evening on February 23. On the morning of February 24, Mriya was supposed to take off, but because of the bombing, the plane remained at the airfield, – the press secretary of the State Enterprise Antonov recounted the events of that day.
The employees of the enterprise hid Mriya under the bullets to the shelter, but this did not help to save the plane.
Specialists have not yet examined the An-225. Only after that, the Antonov State Enterprise will be able to assess the losses.
Currently, it is known that Russian troops strongly damaged the runway of the Gostomel airport and almost completely destroyed the company's office.
< p>As of 14:00 on February 24, it was also known that two An aircraft were lost.
– All employees decide how to work further in order to save the enterprise and build a new Mriya. You know that we have a second Mriya, but not completed. According to estimates, this requires from $700 million to $1 billion,” Larisa Drozdova added.
Recall that on March 27, on the fourth day of a full-scale war in Ukraine, Ukroboronprom reported about destruction of the flagship of the Ukrainian aviation An-225 Mriya.
It is preliminary known that it will take more than five years and more than $3 billion to restore the legendary aircraft.
Ukraine intends to make every effort to pay for these works aggressor state.
There is a fuselage of another Mriya at the Antonov GP.
Recall that the events of the war can be followed on an interactive map of hostilities in Ukraine.
For more information about the war in Ukraine – read online news in the ICTV Facts article.
