War between Ukraine and Russia The Times repeats the disappearance of this mysterious Ukrainian fighter pilot who is said to have shot down no less than forty enemy planes, but whose exploits have never been accurately authenticated.
Many rumors whistle and stubbornly persist about the “Ghost of Kyiv”. At the beginning of the conflict, when Russian forces surrounded the Ukrainian capital, this mysterious Ukrainian fighter pilot shot down no fewer than six planes aboard his MiG-29 without the authenticity of his exploit being verified. It doesn’t matter: Ukraine had one of its war heroes there.
On Friday, The Times announced his death in combat, yet still credited him with forty Russian planes on its list by the time he himself died at 13 British newspaper. The Times even revealed his previously unknown identity: Stepan Tarabalka, 29, married with an eight-year-old son.
Proven or not, his exploits were quickly passed on by the Ukrainian government, certainly to motivate the Ukrainian resistance early in the conflict. “People call him the ghost of Kyiv. And rightly so,” the official account of the Ukrainian army tweeted, claiming with video support that it “has already become a nightmare for Russian invading planes.” Aside from the fact that the video in question is actually from a video game – Digital Combat Simulator (DCS World) – that allows you to reproduce virtual but ultra-realistic dogfights, Checknews says in a previous article on the subject.
These images were originally posted to YouTube on February 25th. The title of the video speaks for itself: “The Ghost of Kyiv: Battle between a Ukrainian MiG29 and a simulated Russian Su27 in DCS World.” According to legend, the author of the simulation is even more explicit about his intentions. He says: “This film is from DCS but was created as a tribute to the ‘Spirit of Kyiv’. If it exists, may God preserve it. If he’s wrong, I pray there are more like him.”
#StopRussia
Що виробляє цей український ас 😳🤜
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МіГ-29 pic.twitter.com/z6YVnm8ezo— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 25, 2022
Later, the Ukrainian General Staff tweeted another equally enigmatic photo of what appeared to be the pilot in the cockpit of his MiG-29 plane, his face covered, with the caption: “Hello, occupier, I’m coming looking for your soul!”
Decorated posthumously
These gray areas still leave many people wondering if this “ghost” — sometimes called Vladimir Makarov or Vladimir Abdonov — is really real. In any case, the American public radio NPR interviewed Stepan Tarabalka’s parents shortly after his death, without them being able to provide any information about his exact function or about the operations in which their son is said to have taken part. “We know he flew on a mission. And he fulfilled the mission, his task. Then he didn’t come back. That’s all the information we have,” his father said.
The latter are a bit more talkative when it comes to reminiscing about his childhood. They explained that growing up near a military airfield in the village of Korolivka, a town west of Kyiv, their son began dreaming of becoming a fighter pilot. “He used to watch the paratroopers during their aerial exercises. And he ran in their direction to try and see where they ended up,” his mother, Nahtalia, recalled to the New York Post. According to his family, Tarabalka was posthumously awarded the Order of the Golden Star, Ukraine’s highest medal for bravery in battle, and the title of Hero of Ukraine. After all, his helmet and goggles are set to be auctioned off for charity in London soon, according to the Times.