AN 124 escape from Kyiv

[edyvw]

On Friday, AN 124 was seen flying over Kyiv, which, to say the least, was very strange.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/56178

However, that An-124 was stuck in Kyiv since February 2022. It managed to avoid the fate of An-225 and has been repaired numerous times since then.
Then yesterday, July 11th, they flew it over UKR, to Leipzig, Germany, where the Antonov Airlines hub is now.
To say that Russian media personalities are furious is an understatement. For this lumbering airplane to fly over such a large area of Ukraine, and the Russians not being able to do anything, shows that they control only the eastern part of the Ukrainian sky, maybe. The fact that it made it to Poland also tells that they were probably caught off guard by an airplane taking off during the day and just making its way to the West.
AN 124 is crucial for delivering supplies to Ukraine through Antonov Airlines which has 7 of these.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Good.

If you haven't seen the footage of the drone attacks deep in Russia, its worth a watch. Just search "ukraine drone attack on russian planes" or anything like that and lots of videos will pop up.

Given they destroyed the Antonov AN-225 - the largest plane ever flown, I call it karma. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225_Mriya

 

[edyvw]

Good.

If you haven't seen the footage of the drone attacks deep in Russia, its worth a watch. Just search "ukraine drone attack on russian planes" or anything like that and lots of videos will pop up.

Given they destroyed the Antonov AN-225 - the largest plane ever flown, I call it karma. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225_Mriya

Yeah, I follow that stuff closely.
I mean, I am not surprised they pulled this off. They are probably the most effective fighting force today. They must constantly innovate.
Russian doctrine, on the other hand, was always: "You don't have as many bullets as we do people."

 

[fdcg27]

Slava Ukrainiani

 

[goblin]

I'm all in for Ukraine, but for what it's worth - the Russians have little interest in downing it, even if they could. Their scoreboard of downing civilian airplanes over Ukraine is already full.

 

[Jetronic]

I'm all in for Ukraine, but for what it's worth - the Russians have little interest in downing it, even if they could. Their scoreboard of downing civilian airplanes over Ukraine is already full.

They've downed several fighter sized targets over Kyiv. I also don't think this was considered a target.

 

[edyvw]

They've downed several fighter sized targets over Kyiv. I also don't think this was considered a target.

How? An124 is instrumental for UKR weapons supply.

 

[goblin]

How? An124 is instrumental for UKR weapons supply.

Would they load them in something as obvious and targettable, vs something less obvious in larger numbers and flying under a flag that causes a bit more issues if downed ?

 

[edyvw]

Would they load them in something as obvious and targettable, vs something less obvious in larger numbers and flying under a flag that causes a bit more issues if downed ?

They deliver weapons systems from around the world to Poland, then transport them by rail or road to UKR.

 

[goblin]

So how is the a124 needed ? It doesn't bring economies, it's mostly for oversized items that wouldn't fit anywhere else.
Maybe as a symbolic gesture, but otherwise I don't see it.