Dmytro Antonov, the pilot of the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the heaviest aircraft in the world, said on Saturday that there is no hope for its restoration after it was badly damaged at Ukraine's Hostomel Airport.

"The sadness is totally indescribable. I just realized that exactly two months ago, I went on my last business trip," he said.

Designed and built in the 1980s, Antonov An-225 Mriya entered service in 1988. It airlifted aid to other countries, transporting medical supplies during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and delivered relief supplies to the Dominican Republic in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.