Ukraine speaks out about the pilot “Ghost of Kiev” who shot down 40 Russian planes

The pilot, nicknamed the “Ghost of Kiev”, is said to have shot down many Russian aircraft The sky above Ukraine is actually a fiction – the Ukrainian Air Force said, pouring cold water on the embroidered story of the legendary pilot.

According to RT, the High Command of the Air Force of Ukraine took to social media over the weekend to urge users not to spread fake news, check information sources before spreading, and debunk some rumors. spread on the internet.

“Ukrainian hero Stepan Tarabalka is not the ‘Ghost of Kiev’ and he did not shoot down 40 planes,” the Air Force said, adding that “the specter of Kiev is a superhero legend because created by the Ukrainians!”

The Ukrainian military went on to explain that the moniker “Ghost of Kiev” is just a “collective image” representing the pilots of the 40th Tactical Airborne Brigade, who “defend the skies of the capital”. and “suddenly showing up where they were not expected”.

The Air Force also refuted other recent claims and rumours, stressing that local pilots do not receive training abroad to fly the US-made F-16s, and that “the American bombers nor do they fly over Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian Air Force’s comments come just a day after the Times of London claimed it had identified the “Ghost of Kiev” as Major Stepan Tarabalka, citing unnamed “Ukrainian sources”. The newspaper said the major died in combat last month.

The Ukrainian military on March 23 also confirmed that pilot Stepan Tarabalka had heroically died in an aerial battle with Russian forces, but did not say anything about the extraordinary feat attributed to the “Ghost of Kiev”.

The “Ghost of Kiev” myth stems from former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko posting on Twitter in February boasting that the “Ghost” that dominates the skies of our capital and our country has become a nightmare for us. Russian aircraft”.

A video accompanying the post said the pilot shot down 10 planes – 6 of which were shot down within the first 30 hours of the military operation. Russia in Ukraine. However, the post added that the identity of the pilot “has yet to be determined”.

Later, when the Ukrainian Defense Ministry shared a video of an aerial battle, many social media users assumed that Tarabalka was the “Ghost of Kiev”. However, the video was later determined to be not real, but just a fighting simulation video game. The same game was used to produce other videos that misrepresent the real-life war in Ukraine.