Media: “Mriya” was supposed to fly to Germany immediately after the invasion, but was refused at the last moment

Legendary cargo aircraft AN-225 «Mriya» was supposed to fly to Germany immediately after the start of a full-scale invasion of the Russians. This is reported by Bild.

According to the newspaper, the plane was supposed to fly to Leipzig/Halle International Airport, which was its “second home”. He landed there 32 times, more than anywhere else in Germany.

Bild noted that the evacuation of the aircraft was planned in advance. According to crew captain Dmitry Antonov, already on February 23 in the evening, on the eve of the start of a full-scale war, he was inside a fully fueled aircraft and was ready to fly away. But this was not allowed to be done “at the direction of the top leadership.”

«The relocation of the AN-225 and smaller AN-124 aircraft was scheduled for 25 February. The decision was made on February 21st. There had been talk of this a few weeks before», said Uwe Schuhart, spokesman for the Leipzig/Halle Airport.

At the same time, German journalists claim that parking lots for Ukrainian aircraft in Germany were prepared on January 26.

According to Bild, satellite images of the airfield in Gostomel indicate that the most important aircraft were deliberately left under attack, since the rest of the aircraft remained intact.

• On February 27, as a result of an air attack by Russian troops on the Gostomel airport near Kiev, an AN- 225 “Mriya”.
• The chief pilot of the destroyed Mriya aircraft accused the management of the Antonov company of sabotaging the rescue of the aircraft.
• The general director of Antonov was removed from his post after an audit.
• In October 2022, the SBU stated that the management and employees of Antonov did not evacuate the Mriya and prevented the Armed Forces of Ukraine from defending the airfield.
• On March 10, 2023, the SBU detained the ex-heads of Antonov, in particular, the former CEO Sergei Bychkov, whose actions led to the destruction of «Mriya».