On October 9, 2024, the international airport in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz adopted a prototype of the AN-178-100P transport aircraft. This statement was released by airport's press service.
It is noted that the airport in Bydgoszcz had previously accepted another Antonov aircraft for storage, but there are no details about this episode. There are also no details on where and under what conditions the AN-178-100P was stored.
Read more: Poland and Baltic States Seek EU Funding for Border Fortifications with russia and Belarus
As Defense Express, we would like to emphasize that it is not disclosed what functions this aircraft can perform on the territory of Poland. It is quite possible that it was only a matter of preserving this important sample of Ukrainian-designed and manufactured aircraft. At the photo we can see that this transport aircraft was painted with the words "Volia" (can be translated as "will" or "freedom") and "Be brave like Hostomel."
The aforementioned message from the Bydgoszcz International Airport is important because it is essentially the first news about the Ukrainian AN-178 (specifically about the flight model) during the entire period of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
Against this background, the assumptions made by the authors of the Polish ZBiAM portal in their respective publication look interesting.
They believe that as of February 2022, this aircraft could have been parked at the Sviatoshyn Airfield, which is located 11 km northwest of city center of Kyiv. This fact allowed it to avoid damage caused by the actions of russian troops who landed in Gostomel.
The authors of this resource also believe that orders for the AN-178 from various customers amounted to as many as 30 units, which is not accurate information. Perhaps, in this way, the Polish authors simply wanted to emphasize the significance of the fact that the AN-178-100P was preserved and transported directly to Poland.
Earlier Defense Express reported that the second MiG-31K fighter jet had arrived in Belarus.
Read more: Strengthening the Eastern Flank: Abrams Tanks Will Be Serviced "Next Door" to russia
