HOSTOMEL AIR BASE, Ukraine — The world's largest aircraft — the Antonov AN-225 Mriya — was destroyed by a Russian attack on an airport near Kyiv, according to the Ukraine government official Twitter account.
Mriya, which translates to "dream," had been sitting in its hangar at a Ukrainian airbase in Hostomel, Ukraine. The airbase at Hostomel had been the site of intense clashes on Thursday when the Russian military took control of the airbase.
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies show significant damage to part of the hangar in which the AN-225 is stored.
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NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System detected multiple fires at the airport, including at the hangar where the plane is kept. The fire at the hangar was detected at 11:13 a.m. Sunday, according to NASA data.
It is not clear if these fires at the airport are the result of actual fires or explosions from military strikes.
NASA obtains the fire data from a number of NOAA and NASA satellites.
Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba noted that Mryia in Ukrainian means "dream."
"Russia may have destroyed our 'Mriya,'" he said. "But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free, and democratic European state."
