Ghost of Kyiv reportedly dead

The Ghost of Kyiv

We talked about the “Ghost of Kyiv” before. News sources are reporting that the man hailed as a hero during the early days of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine (and allegedly shot down six enemy aircraft in the first day of the war) has been brought down. Killed in action, he’s now being identified as Major Stepan Tarabalka.

Major Stepan Tarabalka

From the NY Post;

The mysterious Ukrainian fighter pilot hailed as the “Ghost of Kyiv” after reportedly shooting down dozens of Russian aircraft has been killed in battle, an outlet said Friday.

The death of the much-celebrated enigmatic pilot was reported by The Times of London, which for the first time also publicly identified Major Stepan Tarabalka, a 29-year-old father of one, as the war hero.

Tarabalka was credited with taking out as many as 40 Russian aircraft until he was himself shot down March 13 while battling an “overwhelming” number of enemy forces, the UK paper said.

Tarabalka was posthumously awarded Ukraine’s top medal for bravery in combat, the Order of the Golden Star, with the title Hero of Ukraine, according to his family.

His helmet and goggles — all that was seen of him when Ukrainian officials promoted his heroism — are now set to be auctioned in London, sources told the UK Times while confirming Tarabalka’s identity.

Tarabalka became a mysterious legend when the Ukrainian government credited the then-anonymous pilot with shooting down six Russian jets on the first day of the war.

“People call him the Ghost of Kyiv. And rightly so,” the official tweet said, saying he had “already become a nightmare for invading Russian aircraft.”

Ukraine’s General Staff later tweeted another picture of the ace fighter pilot in the cockpit of his MiG-29 jet with his face covered, captioned, “Hello, occupier, I’m coming for your soul!”

Many people questioned whether the “Ghost” was real, as his identity remained a mystery — seemingly even to his grieving family when told of their loved one’s death last month.

His parents, Nahtalia and Evon Tarabalka, were interviewed by NPR soon after his death — and they gave no mention of his secret status nor any hint they knew what missions he had been on.

“We know he was flying on a mission. And he completed the mission, his task. Then he didn’t return. That’s all the information we have,” his dad told the outlet.

The family relayed that Major Tarabalka has been posthumously honored with the Gold Star of the Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest honor.

It will be interesting to see how many of these kills get confirmed. That they’re so quick to auction off his helmet has me questioning. If confirmed, his 40 kills would make Tarabalka the highest scoring fighter pilot since World War II, the highest scoring jet fighter ace, as well as the first ace in a day since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the first fighter ace of the 21st Century.

Category: Air Force, Russia, Ukraine