The Ukrainian Government has confimed that world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya, has been destroyed by a Russian attack on an airport near Kyiv.
A Ukraine government official Twitter account revealed this on Monday in a tweet which was sighted by Africa Today News, New York.
Before now, the aircraft known as Mriya, which translates to ‘dream,’ had been sitting in its hangar at a Ukrainian air base in Hostomel.
The base was the site of intense clashes on Thursday when the Russian military took its control.
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies show significant damage to part of the hangar in which the AN-225 is stored.
Read Also: ‘Russian Invaders Frustrated By Stiff Ukraine Resistance’
NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System detected multiple fires at the airport, including at the hangar where the plane is stored.
A fire took place at the hangar where the plane is kept and was detected at 11:13 a.m. on Sunday, according to the NASA data.
NASA obtained the fire data from a number of NOAA and NASA satellites.
It is not clear if the fires at the airport are the result of actual fires or explosions from military strikes.
Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya,’ said Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs.
‘But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free, and democratic European state.’
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have fled their country since last week Thursday’s invasion by Russian forces, Africa Daily News, New York reports.
The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, has said it making frantic efforts to deal with up to four million if the situation worsens.
The European Union’s crisis management commissioner however believes the figure could reach seven million if hostilities continue without any solutions in the coming weeks.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK