Microsoft features destroyed Ukrainian aircraft “Mriya” on its popular game

On Monday, February 27, the developers of Microsoft Flight Simulator, a popular Microsoft game, officially announced that a model of the Ukrainian An-225 "Mriya" ("Dream in Ukrainian – ed.) would appear in the PC version of the simulator.

According to the message by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine,  the project became possible due to the coordinated and intensive work of the Microsoft Flight Simulator team together with the Antonov State Enterprise, the assistance of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and the support and expertise of pilots and engineers, who helped to provide realistic aircraft behavior.

An-225 crew commander, chief pilot Dmytro Antonov and, pilots Kyrylo Volehov, Yevhen Bashynskyi, navigator Serhiy Nechaev had the opportunity to test the digital "Dream" for the realism of the flight.

"Restoring an aviation legend was a difficult and long process on which several skilled teams worldwide worked. Many hours of model development work, sound recording, detailed design – everything so that everyone could feel as realistically as possible the role of the pilot of the world's largest aircraft, hear the sound of its engines, inspect the cabin and loading ramp," the press service of the Antonov State Enterprise said.

The Antonov State Enterprise also informed that the Microsoft company decided to direct all funds from the sale of the "Mryia add-on" in Microsoft Flight Simulator to a special account for rebuilding the An-225, destroyed by russian invaders.

"Install Microsoft Flight Simulator and experience the thrill of flying the legendary An-225 "Mriya" firsthand. Raise your "Dream" to the sky," the company urged.

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One of the world's largest and most powerful aircraft, the Ukrainian-made An-225 "Mriya," burned down at the end of February last year due to an air attack by russian troops in the Hostomel airport near Kyiv.

The commander of "Mriya," Dmytro Antonov, said the plane could have been saved. Thus, at the time of the russian invasion, the Antonov State Enterprise had a reserve airfield leased in Leipzig, Germany. The crew was ready to take off from Hostomel to Germany on the morning of February 24 and even started the engines, but they never received the take-off command.

At the end of March 2022, the state military concern "Ukroboronprom" dismissed Serhii Bychkov, the general director of the Antonov State Enterprise, from his post.

In October of last year, criminal proceedings were launched, and Ukraine's Security Service started an investigation of employees of Antonov State Enterprise regarding possible cooperation with the russian invaders, which could have resulted in destroying "Mriya."