How the “Ghost of kyiv” was born, the legend about a Ukrainian pilot

The fighter pilots of Ukraine they are vastly outnumbered by the Russians but have become legendary, thanks in part to the story of a supposed flying ace called the “Ghost of kyiv.”

This hero is said to have shot down as many as 40 enemy planes, an incredible feat in a context where Russia controls the skies.

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But now the Ukrainian Air Force Command warned on Facebook that “the ‘Ghost of kyiv’ is a superhero legend whose character was created by the Ukrainians.”

“We ask the Ukrainian community not to neglect the basic rules of information hygiene,” the message said, urging people to “check sources of information before spreading it.”

Earlier reports had named the air ace as the greatest Stepan Tarabalka, 29 years old. Authorities confirmed that he was killed in combat on March 13 and was posthumously honored with a Hero of Ukraine medal.

Stepan Tarabalka’s Facebook page shows this photo of him with his partner. (STEPAN TARABALKA/FACEBOOK).

Now, the air force has stressed that “Tarabalka is not the ‘Ghost of kyiv,’ and he did not shoot down 40 planes.”

The military body described the “Ghost of kyiv” as “a collective image of the pilots of the Air Force’s 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, defending the sky over the capital,” rather than the combat record of a single man. .

For weeks, the Ukrainians did not have a name for the “Ghost of kyiv”, but that did not stop the story went viral on social media.

It was used as a marketing strategy by a Ukrainian scale aircraft manufacturer, while Ukrainian illustrator Iryna Kostyrenko showed a military insignia inspired by the legend.

The Ministry of Defense tweeted a video celebrating Tarabalka’s heroism.

????13 березня 2022 рок ід час повііряого бою з переважаючжимими силами ???????? загарбниів «ішов н небо» майор сVES
⁰????за захист повітряного простоses, добесть і ідваг майору степану тарабаціаці цірисвоєно звання «герой країни» pic.twitter.com/otjqT32ZP4

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 25, 2022

“Propaganda to boost morale”

Military experts told the BBC they doubted one pilot could have shot down 40 Russian planes.

Ukrainian military historian Mikhail Zhirohov described the “Ghost of kyiv” story as “morale-boosting propaganda.”

Speaking to the BBC from Chernigov, Zhirohov said that at the beginning of the war the Russians dominated Ukrainian airspace, so a Ukrainian pilot “could only have shot down two or three” aircraft.

“It is essential to have this propaganda, because our armed forces are smaller and many think that we cannot be equal to them (the Russians). We need this in times of war,” he said.

The fact that Ukrainian pilots continue to prevent Russia from total domination of the skies, flying MiG-29s of inferior and older Russian design, inspired this modern legend.

With all its military might, Russia had more than two months to bring down Ukraine’s air defenses, and it failed.

The Ukrainian authorities fueled the legend of the “Ghost of kyiv” just a few days after the war began.

The Ukrainian Security Service showed a fighter pilot on the Telegram messaging service, with a text calling the “Ghost of kyiv” an “angel” for shooting down 10 Russian planes.

But he did not name the “angel”, and the media later said the photo used was old.

On February 27 Ukraine called the “Ghost of kyiv” an “angel” for shooting down 10 Russian planes. (SBU).

A Ukrainian military expert who requested anonymity told the BBC the story “helped to boost morale at a time when people need simple stories.”

construction of myths

Ukraine’s morale was also boosted by the story of the Russian ship Moscow.

First, the Ukrainian border guards challenged the missile cruiser with an insulting gesture, which was later celebrated with a popular postage stamp.

Ukraine later said it had sunk the pride of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet with two Neptune missiles.

Russia admitted that there was a fire on board and that the ship sank, but did not mention a missile attack.

The heroic fighter pilots are also part of the national mythology of other countries.

The UK celebrates the brave Royal Air Force pilots who outwitted the mighty Nazi Luftwaffe in the 1940 Battle of Britain.

Russia itself glorifies the sacrifices of its pilots in World War II, who were outgunned by the Germans. Some deliberately crashed into enemy planes after running out of bullets.

casualty count

Legends like the “Ghost of kyiv” are not surprising when such disparate figures are given for Russian and Ukrainian losses: there is plenty of room for embellishment.

On April 30, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that, so far, Russia had lost 190 planes and 155 helicopters in the war.

But independent analysts at Oryx – a military and intelligence blog that counts Russia’s military losses in Ukraine based on photographs sent from the war zone – put Russian losses at 26 planes and 39 helicopters, as well as 48 drones. .

Both Russia and Ukraine are very secretive about their own losses.. Counting them is difficult, because the planes often crash in territory controlled by Moscow and some manage to land in Russia.

Man-portable anti-aircraft missiles are a key part of defending the skies. (GettyImages).

Experts agree that in most cases Russian planes were shot down by surface-to-air missiles, especially man-portable air defense systems.

Justin Crump of security consultancy Sybilline believes the “Ghost of kyiv” legend is important because in our age of social media “people need myths, heroes and legends, to provide cohesion and meaning.”

Source: Elcomercio