In Pics: Heartwrenching images of world's largest aircraft Antonov An-225 Mriya destroyed in Ukraine by Russia

The Russian aggression in Ukraine for the past month or so has destroyed much of the infrastructure in the Eastern Ukraine. Among those is the Hostomel Airport on the outskirts of Kyiv, the home airport of the Ukroboronprom company's subsidiary Antonov Airlines. Antonov parked the world's only An-225 Mriya, the world's largest and heaviest plane at the airport ahead of the war and it got destroyed completely during the Russian invasion. Antonov later released a social media statement asking for crowdfunding to rebuild the plane once again. Its arrivals and departures at overseas airports often attract aviation buffs to observe the lumbering plane with a 290-foot (84-meter) wingspan. Only two planes have been built with larger wingspans - the Stratolaunch and the Hughes "Spruce Goose" - but each was used only for a single flight.