The former Antonov director is accused of negligence regarding the destruction of the AN-225 Mriya

On April 5, the former general director of Antonov was accused of negligence, which led to the destruction of the Antonov An-225 Mriya, as reported by the Security Service of Ukraine.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, the aircraft Antonov An-225 Mriya it was destroyed at Gostomel airport in the first hours of the invasion. Recently, the National Police of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) collaborated in the investigation regarding the destruction of the unique AN-225, informs airlive.net.

According to the investigation and clear evidence, Serhii Bychkov, the former CEO of Antonov, neglected his official duties by not instructing the aircraft to evacuate the airport before the attack and by not obtaining adequate insurance for the An-225. These actions led the SBU to charge Bychkov with dereliction of duty.

"During the investigation, it was established that at the beginning of last year, the head of the Antonov state enterprise had to organize the timely evacuation of the aircraft from the Gostomel airfield. To ensure the protection of the plane, it had to be sent to the airport in Leipzig, Germany. According to the investigation, the An-225 plane was in proper technical condition, which would have allowed it to fly outside Ukraine. Instead, the general manager of the company did not give proper instructions regarding the evacuation of the aircraft abroad. His negligence is compared to a criminal action that led to the destruction of the Ukrainian transport plane."

Ukrainian and Antonov officials say a new AN-225 will be built. Experts say it will cost $500 million to rebuild the aircraft. Ukraine is currently estimated to have lost over $2 billion due to the destruction of the single AN-225. So I don't think the 500 million EURO for rebuilding a new Mriya would be a problem.