Fact Check: World’s largest cargo plane AN-225 was destroyed in Russian attack on Kyiv

Meanwhile, an image of an aircraft is shared on social media platforms especially X (twitter) with the claim that it shows Russia’s AN-225 military aircraft, the largest cargo plane in the world, has landed in Iran. These posts are raised amidst speculations of growing links between Russia and Iran.

Fact Check:

The claim is False. The world’s largest plane, the Antonov AN-225 has been destroyed in 2022.

When we searched using the keywords AN 225 aircraft, we found several news articles confirming that the plane is no more existing. The aircraft AN-225 is an Ukranian plane, and does not belong to Russia.

According to the article published by CNN in February 2022, the world’s largest plane, the Antonov AN-225, has been destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials, generating alarm and sadness among the aviation world in which it occupies almost cult status. The enormous aircraft, named “Mriya,” or “dream” in Ukrainian, was parked at an airfield near Kyiv when it was attacked by “Russian occupants,” Ukrainian authorities said, adding that they would rebuild the plane.

Report published in Business Insider reads: After Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the world's largest airplane — and the only one of its kind — was destroyed. Taking its first flight in December 1988, the An-225 "Mriya," meaning "dream" in Ukrainian, was built during Soviet rule by the Kyiv-based Antonov Company for the purpose of carrying the USSR's Buran spacecraft — just as the Boeing 747 did in the US with NASA's Space Shuttle. A second Mriya was also ordered, but on-and-off construction after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the jet about 70% complete as of 2009 — it's still not finished.

CNBC report images have shown the destruction of what was the world’s largest cargo plane, the Antonov An-225, following Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

According to Reuters, Ukraine handed suspicion notices on Friday to three former top managers of aircraft manufacturer Antonov for obstructing the country's military and allowing Russia to destroy the iconic giant "Mriya" cargo plane at the start of the full-scale war. The article goes on to state that Antonov Airport in Hostomel, an international cargo terminal with a long runway built to handle the world's largest cargo plane the Antonov AN-225 - or "Mriya" - was a key target of Russian President Vladimir Putin's planned assault on Kyiv.

The Ukrainian-made "Mriya", which is Ukrainian for "dream", weighs some 705 tonne and has a wingspan of 290 feet. It was destroyed as Russian forces fought to seize the airport in late February, 2022, in a major symbolic blow to Ukraine as it sought to prevent Kyiv falling. The Russian military held the area for several weeks before Ukrainian armed forces claimed it back.

Hence, the claim that the AN-225 aircraft, which is the world’s largest cargo plane, has landed in Iran is False. The aircraft was manufactured by Ukraine and not Russia and the one and only AN-225 plane was destroyed in Russia’s attack on Ukraine.