"Nothing left" of Mriya plane says captain
STORY: Russian forces withdrew from the airport near the capital, which has been subject to fighting since the first day of the conflict, Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a regular bulletin on Saturday.
Returning to assess the damage at the airport, pilot Dmytro Antonov walked past the wreckages of several planes before reaching what remained of the Antonov-225 Mriya - which in Ukrainian means "dream".
"The sadness is so indescribable. I just realised that exactly two months ago I went on my last business trip. I flew on Mriya," he said.
Ukrainian state arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom reported in February that the Mriya, which can carry up to 250 tonnes, had been set ablaze in a Russian attack and that restoring it would cost more than $3 billion.
