Ukraine war
Before the destruction of the “Mriya”: NATO probably recommended Antonov to relocate the An-225 from Ukraine
A photo from its last mission: The Antonov An-225 is unloaded at Billund Airport in Denmark on February 5, 2022 before flying back to Kyiv-Hostomel.
© Imago Images
Could the loss of the world’s largest transport plane have been avoided? Allegedly, NATO had already warned Antonov Airlines at the end of January. An-225 pilot Dmytro Antonov has now spoken out.
It is one of the first casualties in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine with a high symbolic value: the Antonov An-225. The world’s largest transport plane was destroyed by Russian missiles at Kyiv’s Hostomel airport on February 24.
The “Mriya”, as the huge machine with its six engines is also called, which means “dream” in Ukrainian, was once the flying symbol of the country, a technological marvel of Ukraine, of which there is only one example in the world gave.
On its last flights in early February, the An-225 was in China, Kyrgyzstan and Denmark and landed at the airports of Tianjin, Bishkek and Billund. On February 5, the transport jet flew back to the home base of Kyiv-Hostomel for maintenance work. There the Antonov was parked in a semi-open hangar.
Transport aircraft in use by NATO
The pilot Dmytro Antonov, who has the same name as the aircraft company, publishes his view of the current situation in the Ukraine war almost every day on his YouTube channel. He records the impressive number of 140,000 subscribers. In the last few days he has also spoken out several times about the An-225. He looked into the question of why the special aircraft was not flown out in time from Kyiv-Hostomel to Poland or to the Antonov Airlines base in Leipzig.
Allegedly, the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) advised Antonov Airlines, the operator of the An-225 and other An-124 aircraft, at the end of January to relocate their fleet to neighboring countries to the west. This did not happen without self-interest, because NATO secured transport capacities of 1,600 hours per year with Antonov Airlines until 2026 as part of the Salis program (Strategic Airlift International Solution) by permanent charter.
Unfortunately, a decision on the rescue operation was not made “because the top management of Antonov Airlines was absent,” said the Antonov pilot in a video statement. The pilot has flown a total of 19,000 hours, including 1,500 hours in the cockpit of the Antonov An-225.
Antonov An-225: Only example of the world’s largest cargo plane destroyed
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For speaking the truth about the “cause of death” of the An-225, he has now received a great deal of hostility, and he has also received threatening phone calls. He was even dismissed from his post by order of the management.
The intra-Ukrainian recriminations are more of a sad aftermath in this secondary theater of war and show how nerves are on edge. Dmytro Antonov ends almost every one of his YouTube clips with the sentences “Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine and death to the enemies!”
source: Youtube channel of Dmytro Antonov
Also read:
– Antonov An-225: When the largest plane in the world hovers in
– World’s largest cargo plane An-225: Can Antonov save his greatest flying treasure after all?
– An-124: Why the Antonovs are so important for NATO and the US economy
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