World’s largest aircraft, AN-225, nicknamed as ‘Mriya’ was owned by which…

National ownership of a unique, one-of-a-kind aircraft normally follows the company and country that designed, built, and operated it -- not the country whose military historically ordered similar-looking aircraft.

The AN-225 'Mriya' was designed and built by the Antonov Design Bureau, headquartered in Kyiv. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Antonov became a state aerospace enterprise of independent Ukraine. The single AN-225 ever built (registration UR-82060) was owned and operated by Antonov's cargo division, Antonov Airlines, based in Ukraine, until it was destroyed by Russian forces at Hostomel Airport near Kyiv on 27 February 2022.

• USA operates large military transport aircraft such as the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but it never designed, built, or owned the AN-225.

• China's largest transport aircraft is the Xian Y-20 -- an entirely separate aircraft programme with no design or ownership link to the AN-225.

• Russia inherited some Antonov-designed aircraft types after the Soviet break-up (such as the smaller An-124), but the AN-225 itself remained an asset of Antonov's post-Soviet home country, not Russia.