Almost a year after the attack on Ukraine, the country is struggling with many losses. The destruction of the Antonov An-225 seems almost insignificant, but the world's largest aircraft had many fans both at home and abroad - until the Russian army burned the plane out a few days after the start of the war.

Even then, the mood in Ukraine was divided: one of the pilots of the giant aircraft was dismayed by the destroyed plane: "The sadness is simply indescribable," said Dmytro Antonov during a tour of the rubble landscape around the hangar: "I just realized that I was on my last trip exactly two months ago. I could never have imagined something like that happening."

At the same time, the owner of the plane was confident and unshakeable from the start: "The dream will never die," the cargo airline wrote on Twitter in February. In November, it then became more specific: the reconstruction of the Antonov An-225 Mrija cargo plane had already begun, as announced by Antonov General Director Eugene Gavrylov.

But it is also clear that a lot of money is needed to restore the giant aircraft. In order to get the sum, the manufacturer has now come up with an unusual fundraiser - in cooperation with Microsoft. Their flight simulator has long been regarded by aircraft fans as the ultimate in virtual flight over landscapes.

As a new detail, users can now also buy the Antonov An-225 in the game as an add-on. A double benefit for Antonov fans: on the one hand they can fly in their dream machine, on the other hand the income generated in this way goes directly to Antonov in order to enable the reconstruction of the real plane.

Sources: Microsoft, stern.de, YouTube