Editorial

Ukraine Admits The Ghost Of Kyiv Is Fake Following Reports Of The Pilot’s Death

OPINION
Ghost of Kyiv (Credit: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images and Photo by MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Ghost of Kyiv (Credit: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images and Photo by MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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The Ghost of Kyiv isn’t real.

Rumors exploded following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that a legendary Ukrainian pilot known as the Ghost of Kyiv was in the sky smoking Putin’s forces. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

Recently, the pilot was identified as Major Stepan Tarabalka, who was killed in combat in March. Well, it turns out the Ghost of Kyiv never existed.

The official Twitter account for Ukraine’s Air Force tweeted, “The information about the death of the The Ghost of #Kyiv is incorrect. The #GhostOfKyiv is alive, it embodies the collective spirit of the highly qualified pilots of the Tactical Aviation Brigade who are successfully defending #Kyiv and the region.”

Furthermore, Ukrainian officials explained, “Hero of Ukraine Stepan Tarabalka is NOT ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ and he did NOT shoot down 40 planes,” according to the New York Post.

As I’ve said many times, you have to be very careful with information that comes out of war zones, and this is the exact reason why.

The Ghost of Kyiv rumor caught fire before anyone really knew what happened. While there are certainly some very heroic Ukrainian pilots, the Ghost of Kyiv wasn’t true.

Again, be careful with what you hear during a war.

Having said that, the Ghost of Kyiv not being real doesn’t mean the Ukrainians aren’t fighting like hell. They absolutely are and freedom-loving people around the world should stand against Putin’s aggression.