Ukraine admits 'Ghost of Kyiv' fighter pilot is a myth

On social media, “Ghost of Kyiv” was a military hero, an ace fighter pilot hailed for supposedly shooting down multiple Russian planes. tales began just days into war and circulated for months, bolstered by official Ukrainian accounts.

But on Saturday, Ukrainian authorities mitted that legendary pilot was a myth.

“ Ghost of Kyiv is a super-hero legend whose character was created by Ukrainians!” Ukraine’s air force said in Ukrainian on Facebook.

statement came after multiple media outlets published stories wrongly identifying Major Stepan Tarabalka as man behind moniker. Tarabalka was a real pilot who died on March 13 during air combat and was posthumously awarded title Hero of Ukraine, Ukraine’s air force said last month.

But he was t Ghost of Kyiv, force said in Saturday’s statement.

“ information about death of Ghost of #Kyiv is incorrect,” Ukraine’s air force wrote in a separate post Saturday on Twitter. “ #GhostOfKyiv is alive, it embodies collective spirit of highly qualified pilots of Tactical Aviation Brige who are successfully defending #Kyiv and region.”

legend emerged just a day after Russia inved Ukraine on Feb. 24, as social media users began to spre claims, without evidence, of an anymous fighter pilot who h single-handedly taken down multiple Russian planes.

Memes, unrelated photos, and even foot from a flight simulator video game circulated on social media, claiming to show Ghost of Kyiv during combat.

On Feb. 25, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted a photo that Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense h shared three years earlier , falsely claiming it showed Ghost of Kyiv who h taken down six Russian pilots.

Two days later, Ukraine's official Twitter account shared a video including same picture, along with foot of fighter jets in combat, set to pulsating music, with caption: “People call him Ghost of Kyiv. And rightly so — this UAF ace dominates skies over our capital and country, and has alrey become a nightmare for inving Russian aircrafts.”

That same day, Ukraine’s Security Service, SBU, shared same old photo on Telegram — but w claiming he h shot down 10 occupying planes.

By time news outlets, including Times of London, falsely identified pilot as Tarabalka on Friday, reports h increased ghost’s toll to 40 planes. Times later updated its story to reflect air force’s new position on Ghost of Kyiv.