Is “The Ghost of Kyiv” a real fighter pilot taking out Russian targets?
This seems to be the question on everyone’s mind after rumors circulated about the existence of a near superhuman pilot destroying Putin’s forces.
❗️One #Ukrainian pilot in 30 hours shot down six #Russian airplanes, including the Su-35, according to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation.
A Ukrainian pilot of a MiG-29 shot down: 2хSU-35, 1хSU-27,1хMiG-29, 2хSU-25. In the network he was called “The Ghost of Kyiv”.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 25, 2022
While different rumors have circulated, the most popular one is that a MiG-29 pilot became the first ace in decades after shooting down six Russian planes, but is it true?
Rumors Circulate Of Ukrainian Pilot Known As ‘The Ghost Of Kyiv’ Smoking Russian Planes https://t.co/uI9pwRuWpX
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 26, 2022
The answer is that there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer right now, and as we all know, false information spreads like wildfire during a war.
However, “The Ghost of Kyiv” potentially existing got a huge boost when former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted a photo of the alleged pilot.
На фото – пілот МіГ-29. Той самий «Привид Києва».
Він викликає жах у ворогів та гордість в українців 🇺🇦
На його рахунку 6 перемог над російськими пілотами!
З такими потужними захисниками Україна точно переможе! pic.twitter.com/GJLpcJ31Si
— Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) February 25, 2022
However, outside of Poroshenko’s tweet, which is 100% of a Ukrainian pilot as it was released by the military a couple years ago, there isn’t much to go on at all.
На Київщині у бригаді тактичної авіації українські льотчики випробовують французький шолом.https://t.co/tIIv2vVzKK pic.twitter.com/LkzMHedMqE
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 25, 2019
Now, what we do for sure is that planes have gone down since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine. How many? That’s unknown, but planes have gone down.
Does that mean “The Ghost of Kyiv” is real? Absolutely not. Again, outside of Poroshenko’s tweet and some rumors on social media, there isn’t much to confirm a pilot smoked six Russian planes.
Now, do we all want it to be real? Yes because that’d be epic as all hell as Ukraine battles back against the Russian advance. However, we should all remain incredibly skeptical of any claim of this magnitude coming out of an active war zone.