Newly surfaced footage recorded by Russian troops during the opening hours of the February 24, 2022, invasion has provided a rare look at the Antonov An-124-100M-150 (registration UR-82009) during the height of the Battle for Hostomel. The video confirms that while the legendary An-225 “Mriya” was tragically lost, its smaller but equally vital sibling, the “Ruslan,” narrowly avoided total destruction despite being caught in the crossfire of the VDV airborne assault.
Caught on the Tarmac
UR-82009 was one of the few Antonov Airlines heavy lifters unable to evacuate Ukraine before the invasion, as it was reportedly undergoing technical maintenance at the Hostomel (Antonov) Airport. The footage shows the aircraft parked near the hangars as Russian paratroopers secured the airfield.
As the battle intensified, the aircraft became a backdrop for fierce clashes between Russian forces and the Ukrainian National Guard. The video reveals visible damage to the fuselage and forward section, including impact marks from small arms fire and shrapnel from artillery shelling. Unlike the Mriya, which was engulfed in a catastrophic fire after its hangar was struck, UR-82009 remained structurally intact, though it suffered “signs of fire” in its rear section according to later damage assessments.
A Strategic Survivor
The survival of UR-82009 is a critical victory for the Antonov State Enterprise. While the An-225 was a one-of-a-kind symbol of national pride, the An-124 fleet serves as the functional “workhorse” for strategic airlift. Throughout 2024 and 2025, Antonov engineers worked under wartime conditions to assess and stabilize the damaged fleet.
In a parallel feat of engineering resilience, a sister aircraft (UR-82073) was successfully modernized and flown out of Kyiv to Leipzig, Germany, in July 2025 after being stranded for over three years. Antonov has confirmed its intent to eventually restore UR-82009, bringing it up to the advanced -100M-150 standard, which features upgraded avionics and a 150-ton payload capacity.
The Future of the “Ruslan”
As of February 2026, Antonov Airlines continues to operate its fleet from its temporary base in Leipzig, Germany. The company is currently building a new 24,000-square-meter servicing hangar there to maintain its active An-124s, which remain indispensable for NATO’s Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS) program. The eventual return of UR-82009 to the skies would signal a final closing of the chapter on the Battle of Hostomel, turning a battlefield casualty back into a global logistics asset.
