The Ghost of Kyiv: who is Ukrainian 'ace pilot' who shot down 6 Russian planes?

The Ghost of Kyiv is an anonymous fighter pilot said to be active in defending Ukraine from the Russian invasion.

Though popular and heavily discussed on social media, it seems likely that the Ghost is just an urban legend – an amalgamation of different stories and individuals, the story spreading as a morale boost. If the Ghost is a real person, they would be the first ‘ace pilot’ of the 21st century.

Here is everything you need to know about the Ghost of Kyiv.

The Ghost of Kyiv is an anonymous fighter pilot who is suggested to have shot down six Russian planes on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine. This is, more likely than not, not actually true – rather, it’s likely that the Ghost is just an urban legend, with several different attacks attributed to one persona. (It’s worth noting that, if true, the Ghost would be the first pilot of the 21st century to shoot down more than five enemy combatants in a day.)

Fake footage of the Ghost, created in a video game simulator, went viral – though uploaded and acknowledged as a tribute rather than real footage, many shared it believing it to be real.

The Ghost is increasingly understood to be an urban legend, with the story spreading naturally as a morale booster.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence have suggested that, if confirmed, the pilot may be an experienced pilot from the military reserves.

Former president Petro Poroshenko has tweeted an image of a pilot (masked and unidentifiable), with a caption reading “In the image we have the MiG-29 pilot known as ‘The Ghost of Kyiv’. He terrorizes enemies and makes Ukrainian people proud. He’s got six wins over Russian pilots! With such powerful defenders, Ukraine will definitely win!”

It’s being suggested that the Ghost of Kyiv has shot down six Russian planes – accounting for all but one of the seven Russian planes reported to have been shot down in the first day of the invasion.

The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a short-range fighter plane. It was first designed in the 1970s, and remained in production through to 2013.

In 2014, Ukraine had around 80 MiG 29 planes – the majority of them, however, were based in Crimea, and were seized by Russia when the territory was annexed. Ukraine now has a significantly diminished airforce.

An ace pilot – also known as a flying ace – is any military pilot who shoots down five or more enemy combatants. The concept was first popularised during World War One, when individually successful aviators were highlighted for propaganda and morale reasons (even as ‘flying aces’ were the exception rather than the rule for aerial warfare, which is usually fought in formation).

It is relatively unusual to become an ‘ace in a day’ specifically (a fighter pilot who shoots down five or more enemy combatants in a single day). If the record attributed to the Ghost of Kyiv is to be believed, that would make the anonymous pilot the first person to achieve ‘ace in a day’ status in the 21st century.

Previously, the most recently recognised ‘ace in a day’ was US pilot Oscar Perdomo, who shot down five Japanese aircraft in the final days of World War Two. In 1965, pilot Muhammad Mahmood Alam claimed to have shot down five aircraft in a day (and four in a minute – a world record). However, this has been heavily contested over the years, and it’s generally understood now to be untrue.

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