HISTORY

The first day of war the Ukrainians reported

seven Russian aircraft and four helicopters

shot down. There is photographic evidence

of one Russian Su-25 shot down on February 24. One transport An-26 crashed on Russian territory near the Ukrainian border.

The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Ukrainians claim to have hit several helicopters attacking Hostomel. At least one was

supposed to crash into the Dnieper river.

One Ka-52 attack helicopter escorting the

transport Mi-8s carrying the paratroopers,

was hit by a heat-seeking portable missile. It aimed at the helicopter’s port engine

but struck the weapons’ pylon on the port

side. The missile explosion tore off the end

of the pylon with the third attachment point

and a lot of fragments hit the port engine.

The crew performed the emergency landing

and attempted to flee. Both airmen however

were killed by the Ukrainian troops. The

damaged helicopter is well documented

by photographs. All national markings are

overpainted on the both sides and the fuselage is marked with hastily painted letter

V which according to the unconfirmed information is supposed to identify the Russian Marines.

Claims of two Il-76 airplanes shot down

during the paratrooper operations remain

unconfirmed. The first one was supposed

to be shot down by the Ukrainian Su-27 fighter during the night of February 25th and

26th near Vasylkiv 40 kilometers south of

Kiev. It was announced by the Ukrainian

Headquarters stating that the number of

paratroopers on board is unknown. Il-76

can carry 125 paratroopers or 140 regular

infantrymen. There is an airport in Vasylkiv

that Russians may have intended to capture. Later, during February 26, the Ukrainians

reported another Il-76 shot down near the

city of Bila Cerkva 80 kilometers south of

Kiev. Both kills were supposedly achieved

over the territory controlled by the Ukrainian troops however no photographs of the

wreckage surfaced. Therefore, the veracity

of these reports is questionable.

An-225 destroyed at Hostomel airfield.

A hero and an urban legend

Meanwhile the urban legend about a heroic Mig-29 fighter pilot nicknamed Ghost of

Kiev spread around the Ukrainian capital.

He supposedly shot down seven Russian airplanes in two days of defending the

capital and became the first fighter ace of

the 21st century. Later he was supposed

to raise his score to ten Russian airplanes

and despite being shot down himself he

successfully ejected and continued to fight

in another plane. The existence of Ghost of

Kiev, whose real identity remains unknown,

was to be confirmed by the videos of the

fighter flying low over the Kiev apartment

buildings. Most likely this is an urban legend in order to boost morale. At the time

of crisis people need a superhero.

In fact Ukraine did lose one hero during

40

INFO Eduard

Ukrainian pilot Oleksandr Oksanchenko and the

wreckage of his Su-27.

April 2022