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"Ghost of Kyiv" shot down? Ukraine military is now correcting the legend

2022-05-02T03:14:07.929Z


"Ghost of Kyiv" shot down? Ukraine military is now correcting the legend Created: 05/02/2022Updated: 05/02/2022 05:08 The first photo of the mysterious "Ghost of Kyiv". © Screenshot/Facebook/General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine The "Ghost of Kyiv" became the hero of Ukraine's resistance to Russia. Ukraine now contradicts a death report. Update from May 1, 6:50 p.m.: Reports about the s


"Ghost of Kyiv" shot down?

Ukraine military is now correcting the legend

Created: 05/02/2022Updated: 05/02/2022 05:08

The first photo of the mysterious "Ghost of Kyiv".

© Screenshot/Facebook/General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The "Ghost of Kyiv" became the hero of Ukraine's resistance to Russia.

Ukraine now contradicts a death report.

Update from May 1, 6:50 p.m.:

Reports about the so-called “Ghost of Kiev” have been causing a stir since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

The pilot is said to have shot down almost 40 Russian planes.

Now the British

Times

reported that the pilot had been shot down (see first report).

The Ukrainian military is now contradicting this.

After the report, the Air Force wrote via Twitter that the report on the pilot's death was "incorrect".

"The spirit of Kyiv is alive," it said.

But then the Ukrainian Air Force announced that the “Ghost of Kyiv” was not a single pilot.

Rather, the term is an embodiment of the community spirit of the pilots defending Kyiv and the region around the capital.

The Air Force also reported more precisely via Facebook that the term stands for all pilots of the 40th Air Force Tactical Brigade: "The spirit of Kyiv is a superhero legend whose character was created by Ukrainians".

Neither the one nor the other representation can currently be checked by an independent party.

However, experts had previously doubted that there could be a pilot who shot down 40 Russian planes alone.

Especially since most of the Russian planes were hit by surface-to-air missiles.

"Ghost of Kyiv" Apparently Killed in Battle - British Newspaper Publishes Identity

First report from April 30:

Kiev/London - According to information from Ukraine, the Ukrainian military pilot who became known as the "Ghost of Kiev" in the Ukraine conflict apparently fell in the war.

This is reported by the British newspaper

Times

, citing several sources in Ukraine.

It was long disputed on social media whether the man really existed.

Now the

Times

published a name: Major Stepan Tarabalka was 29 years old at the time of death, and also the father of one child.

According to the information, the pilot, who was revered as a war hero in Ukraine, died on March 13.

Ukraine War: 'Ghost of Kyiv' died fighting on his plane

The pilot died in combat: while fighting "overwhelming" enemy forces, his plane, a MiG-29, was shot down.

Rumor has it that a pilot shot down six Russian fighter planes on the first day of the war.

There should have been forty in total.

After he had almost been transformed into a myth, a photo of the "Ghost of Kyiv" was published by the General Staff of Ukraine on social networks, among others - without the identity of the man being known.

Ukraine War: Spirit of Kyiv became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance to Russia

At the very beginning of the Ukraine war, international surprise was caused by the fact that the Ukraine had withstood the attack by the supposedly overpowering Russian army - and quickly thwarted a capture of the capital Kyiv.

As a result, the pilot had become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance.

The fact that he has now fallen should not belittle his myth.

(cat)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-02

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