Video shows AN-225 wreckage

A video broadcast on Friday showed the mangled wreckage of the Antonov AN-225, the aircraft was confirmed destroyed on Saturday but we had yet to receive any images or video of the aircraft’s wreckage.

Russia channel 1 broadcast

Footage of the destroyed Ukrainian jet was shown on Russia’s state-run channel 1, this was later shared on social-media. It isn’t clear wether this is live or has been pre-recorded.

The aircraft was destroyed in the fight for the Hostomel Airbase. It is reported that Russian forces captured the Airbase, but Ukraine has since regained controlled.

Ukraine reported that russia had hit the AN-225 Mriya (dream) with cruise missiles citing it is a big symbol of Ukrainian pride however, Russia has reported that the aircraft was actually hit by Ukrainian artillery strikes. Neither parties cited any source or gave evidence for their claims.

Antonov has said that they cannot give a report on the technical condition of the aircraft until it has been inspected by experts, they also said the restoration was estimated to cost around $3 billion. This is presumably the cost to complete the second uncompleted airframe since the first one shown here looks to be beyond repair.