Confirmation also came from Ukraine: The spirit of Kyiv He died on March 13 in a dogfight against a large number of Russian forces. Until now, his identity had remained secret, but now the pilot has a name: Major Stepan Tarabalka, 29 years old. As long as he remained in service, he was the nightmare of Russian aviation, more than 40 downed enemy planes are credited to him and it’s no wonder he’s considered a real hero at home.
Major Stepan Tarabalka fought with honor in the early days of the invasion and so far only his helmet and goggles have been seen, concealing his identity for security reasons. The photos, which show him aboard his plane and ready to fight, have fueled the myth of the “Ghost of Kyiv,” the indomitable and brave pilot who protected the Ukrainian skies as long as he could. It was for the courage and daring with which he carried out his work that Major Stepan Tarabalka was awarded the medalOrder of the Golden Star titled Hero of Ukraine. It is the highest award for bravery in combat in the country of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The pilot distinguished himself from the first day of the war, when he managed to shoot down 6 Russian jets in a row. “People call him the ghost of Kyiv. And rightly so, because he has already become one nightmare for the invasion of Russian planes,” the Ukrainian General Staff said of him. His figure, shrouded in mystery, served to keep the spirits of the troops but also that of the Ukrainian people up, so much so that on several occasions the General Staff has published his picture on board of the MiG-29 jet, obviously in flight gear and without distinctive elements. One of these posts is destined to go down in the history of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. “Hello, inmate, I’m here for your Soul‘ it said in a tweet.
We have often wondered if the spirit of Kyiv really existed or if it was instead an imaginary collective figure, as all Ukrainian airline pilots embodied them in a single theme to scare the Russians. But no, the spirit of Kyiv now has a name, a surname and a face. “We know he flew on a mission. And he completed it mission, his job. Then he didn’t come back. That’s all the information we have,” Major Stepan Tarabalka’s family said.