Ukrainians on Monday paid tribute to the officer commanding the pilots of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, nicknamed the “Ghosts of Kyiv,” who died a “hero” during a mission over the Black Sea.
Colonel Mykhaïlo Matiushenko died “heroically” on June 26 during an “air combat mission (…) to protect the country’s skies,” wrote Anatoly Fedorouk, the mayor of Boutcha, on his Facebook page, where a farewell ceremony for the officer was held.
The pilot, who died at the age of 60, was from this town on the outskirts of Kyiv, which has become a symbol of atrocities attributed to Russian forces during their occupation of the area surrounding the Ukrainian capital in March.
Mykhailo Matyushenko, whose codename was “grandfather,” commanded the pilots of the 40th Tactical Air Brigade, also known as the “ghosts of Kyiv,” to whom he passed on his “invaluable experience,” the mayor added.
About 300 people attended the ceremony at Boutcha Cemetery around the ashes of the deceased, AFP journalists noted.
In the gray sky, a Ukrainian fighter plane flew over the crime scene several times.
Mykhailo Matyushenko “used to say about his participation in military operations: + I have devoted my whole life to this, and although I am very old, I will fight because I can do it better than anyone.” his wife told reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony.
The expression “Ghost of Kyiv” appeared at the beginning of the war, when social networks massively shared this nickname given to a mysterious Mig-29 pilot to praise his alleged exploits in the Ukrainian skies, where he single-handedly defeated many Russian shot down planes.
Some official Ukrainian sites had even shared images of dogfights – actually taken from a video game – and of an anonymous pilot, always helmeted with his black visor down, to illustrate his skills.
“This ace…has become a nightmare for invading Russian planes,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry wrote in a tweet on Feb. 27, three days after the invasion began.
But the Ukrainian Air Force put an end to the myth on April 30, admitting on its Facebook page that “the Phantom of Kyiv is a Ukrainian-made superhero legend.”
“You have to see it as a collective representation of the pilots of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade. They are the ones who protect the capital’s skies and can suddenly appear where the enemy doesn’t expect them,” she explained.