Lost in the fighting that ensued for control of the airport was the world's largest plane, the Antonov An-225. The massive ...

In late 1988, the An-225, as the aircraft was officially called, rolled out of the assembly shop of the Oleg Antonov Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex. The aircraft was named Mriya [Dream].

Brought into existence by the Antonov Design Bureau, the An-225 Mriya (Ukrainian: dream/sleep) was a singular marvel, designed based on the An-124 Ruslan, under the purview of the Buran program.