Katerina Chernovol23:33, 16.03.23
The Leipzig/Halle airport was the second home for the legendary aircraft.
The world’s largest Ukrainian transport aircraft “Mriya” , which the Russian invaders destroyed at the Gostomel airport at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, were supposed to be taken out of the country. The legendary plane was supposed to fly to the German airport “Leipzig/Halle”.
According to Bild , Mriya was supposed to be taken to Germany ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“In the evening before the start of the war, the crew and pilots boarded a fully fueled cargo plane, but, according to Captain Dmitry Antonov, they were not allowed to take off at the direction of senior management,” the article says.
It is noted that in order to save the legendary Mriya, the Leipzig / Halle airport prepared everything a month before the start of a full-scale war. A parking space for the aircraft has been provided since January 26, 2022.
Airport spokesman Uwe Schuhart confirmed in a commentary to the publication that the transfer of An-225 and An-124 aircraft to Germany was scheduled for February 25.
“This was confirmed on February 21. There were discussions about this weeks earlier,” he explained.
The airport “Leipzig/Halle” was the second home for the Ukrainian “Mriya”. Since 2008, the world’s largest aircraft has landed there 32 times.
(C)UNIAN 2023
“In the evening before the start of the war, the crew and pilots boarded a fully fueled cargo plane, but, according to Captain Dmitry Antonov, they were not allowed to take off at the direction of senior management,”
Why?
I have no idea.
This article makes me think they are dicks, but I read before the aircraft was undergoing maintenance so it could be the management didn’t want to risk the lives of the crew.
It can be anything ranging from treason to thinking human lives are more important than an aircraft.
I must say that I also miscalculated before the start of the war, as I did not expect Putin would destroy Ukraine Syria-style.
I thought he wanted to capture Ukraine, not destroy it.
During the War in Donbas Putin also seemed to have tried to leave Luhansk and Donetsk intact and move the frontline to less populated outskirts.
I never expected a Mariupol, as I thought Putin wanted to capture the city.
I mean, if you want to revive the Soviet Union, why destroy a Soviet-style city and the proud of the Soviet-Union, the largest aircraft ever built, called Mriya for a reason!
It still doesn’t make sense to me.
It could be that I wasn’t wrong but that he realized he couldn’t take Ukraine and out of anger destroyed it, but I do think most likely I was wrong.
Well, the Antonov director and some managers were arrested for treason not so long ago. But, I would like to know why the plane wasn’t allowed to fly. Was it supposed to be captured or destroyed? Obviously, it’s got to be one of the two.