His face is not visible inside the cockpit of the MIG 29, since he wears a helmet and an oxygen mask. He poses with his thumb up, just before taking off to defend Kiev and his country's skies.
None but a few people know the real name of the Ukrainian pilot who reportedly shot down six Russian fighters in one day and has become a legend among his countrymen.
They call him "The Ghost of Kyiv" and it only took a few hours for this flying avenger to go viral.
Former President Petro Poroshenko published on his personal Tweeter account the photo of the avenger, who according to the Spanish Marca and other media is real.
So far he has reportedly shot down six Russian fighters according to Nexta and has become a hero to his countrymen, while several videos show a MIG 29 crossing the sky over stricken Kiev.
The six air battles in which "The Phantom of Kiev" was involved reportedly took place in just thirty hours, something experienced pilots consider very difficult to have happened.
Difficult, but not impossible say the Ukrainians who praise their avenger for shooting down two Sukhoi-35s, a Sukhoi-27, a MIG 29 and two Sukhoi- 25s.
At a time when heroes are an endangered species, this "Ghost" is for many people a stark reminder that there is still hope in a world of burning fronts.
Poroshenko's posting of the photo is essentially a confirmation of this pilot's existence, turning a wild urban myth into reality.
The "ghost" that spreads terror
Perhaps this is what the besieged Kiev needs most at this time, this "ghost" that appears out of nowhere in the skies and shoots down the Russians' Sukhoi.
It is largely reminiscent of another war story featuring another "ghost", the sniper Vassily Zaitsev who became a legend at the Battle of Stalingrad.
When Nikita Khrushchev asked the commissars for solutions to boost the morale of Russian soldiers, the response of one of them was to give them hope.
And that hope was a shepherd from the Urals who began exterminating high-ranking German officers, making history in one of the fiercest sieges of World War II.
Several decades later comes "The Ghost of Kiev" to give Ukrainians a much-needed hero in the form of a flying avenger.
The one who seems to have spread the wings of the MIG 29 that flies over Kiev and other Ukrainian cities and lets nothing pass.
Poroshenko wrote in the tweet he posted: "The photo depicts the pilot who became known as "The Ghost of Kiev". He terrorizes enemies and makes Ukrainians proud. He counts six victories against Russian pilots and with such dynamic defenders Ukraine will surely win."
Source: protothema.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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