“The ghost of Kyiv” is a myth, Ukrainian authorities admitted over the weekend.
After several news outlets last week identified the legendary, mysterious fighter hero as a 29-year-old father recently killed in a battle with the Russians, military officials admitted on Saturday that there was no such man.
“The ghost of Kyiv is a superhero-legend, whose hero was created by Ukrainians!” This was written by the command of the Air Force of Ukraine on Facebook.
The famous hero is credited with destroying up to 40 Russian planes until he was shot down on March 13 while fighting a “huge” number of enemy forces, the Times of London reported.
The Times identified the alleged Ukrainian military hero as Major Stepan Tarabalka.
Ukraine acknowledges that the “Ghost of Kyiv” is fictional. Facebook / General
But while Tarabalka was a prominent war hero, he was not the Ghost – because there has never been such a person, Ukraine said.
“Hero of Ukraine Stepan Tarabalka is NOT the Ghost of Kyiv and has NOT shot down 40 planes,” said the country’s Air Force command.
Instead, the nickname belongs collectively to all of Ukraine’s fighter pilots, military officials said.
The Command of the Air Force of Ukraine posted on Facebook that the “Ghost of Kyiv” is a “legend of the superhero” .Twitter / @yirmiucderece
“#GhostOfKyiv is alive. He embodies the collective spirit of the highly qualified pilots of the tactical aviation brigade, who successfully defend #Kiev and the region, “the command wrote on Twitter.
The Ukrainian government was previously key to creating and perpetuating the myth of a single brave and particularly focused fighter pilot.
“People call him the ghost of Kyiv. And rightly so, “the government tweeted in February about the famous mysterious figure, saying that the pilot” has already become a nightmare for the invasion of Russian planes. “
Earlier, the media identified Stepan Tarabalka as the “Ghost of Kyiv”, but Ukraine says that is not the case. Twitter / @sovietarmyfan The Ghost of Kyiv is said to have shot down 40 Russian planes. Getty Images
But many doubted whether the Ghost was real, as the video, which is said to be evidence of the fighter, turned out to be from a video game.
Some have noted that the reported People’s Hero and his MiG-29 Fulcrum will not have the ammunition capacity to carry out the attacks for which he is credited.
However, many people wanted to celebrate the mysterious alleged pilot.
“True or not, this is EXACTLY the kind of inspiring story that the resistance needs right now,” a Twitter user said.
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