Officials have confirmed that there are plans to rebuild the world’s largest plane and it is set to cost a whopping $3 billion.
The aircraft was destroyed at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine back in February 2022.
This was when the Antonov AN-225 was targeted at its base in Hostomel, near Kyiv.
After the plane was destroyed on February 27, 2022, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, took to X, formerly Twitter, to write: “This was the world’s largest aircraft, AN-225 ‘Mriya’ (‘Dream’ in Ukrainian). Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We shall prevail!”
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And it looks like the Antonov company is persevering with its plans to restore the plane back to its once former glory.
In a statement from the firm, it read: “The restoration is estimated to take over 3 billion USD and over five years.
“Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine’s aviation and the air cargo sector.”
The plane was once an iconic vessel, serving as the world’s largest cargo transporter.
It had the ability to hold twice the capacity of a Boeing 747, stretching 275 feet long.
It was also the heaviest plane that has ever been built.
After being hit by a Russian attack, the aircraft was ‘completely destroyed’ as the nose had taken ‘a direct artillery hit’, according to CNN journalist Vasco Cotovio.
He added: “There was extensive damage to the wings and some of the engines. The tail end section was spared from any large impacts and has a few holes caused by either shrapnel or bullets.”
Now, Antonov has confirmed that it is working to rebuild the vessel, and is quoted in a report by CNN as saying: “The process of rebuilding ‘Mriya’ is considered as an international project, with the participation of aviation enterprises of different countries of the world.
“The possibility of attracting funding from various sources is being considered and proposals from many organizations that are ready to join the project are being reviewed.”
The firm continued: “The program is developing in the direction of carrying out an expert assessment of these units, for subsequent calculations and design works.”
It added that the rebuild would take place ‘immediately after the victory of Ukraine’.