Antonov Seeks Crowdfunding to Repair An-225 Mryia Damaged in Russian Attack

Antonov is seeking for donations to get the world's biggest plane An-225 Mriya into the air again.

The plane was destroyed by Russian forces in the early days of the Ukraine invasion. On Thursday, Antonov CEO Sergii Bychkov acknowledged the An-225's destruction while kickstarting a campaign to revive the plane. In a Facebook post, Bychkov asked for non-refundable contributions to rebuild the An-225, saying he wanted to restore the aircraft as "a symbol of world's highest scientific and technical achievements in modern transport aircraft construction."

"Despite the difficult times, the team of Antonov strongly considers it necessary to prevent the complete irreversible loss of the legendary aircraft as one of the symbols of modernity and begin work on the revival of the flagman of transport aviation, An-225 Mriya... We propose to establish the International Fund for the revival of the transport aircraft An-225," Bychkov said the post.

Antonov say they would do it themselves but being in the middle of a war zone, are somewhat cash strapped.