The “ghost of kyiv” is no more.
The Ukrainian Air Force put an end, on Saturday April 30, to the myth of this “ace” of the air which would have shot down more than forty Russian fighter planes since the start of the war.
“The 'Ghost of kyiv' is a superhero legend created by Ukrainians!
It should be seen as a collective representation of the pilots of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade.
They are the ones who protect the skies of the capital and can suddenly appear where the enemy does not expect them,” the air force said on its Facebook page.
This confession puts an end to more than a month of fervor on social networks – often maintained by the Ukrainian authorities themselves – and speculation around the identity and existence of this heroic “ghost”, portrayed as the Russian pilots' worst nightmare.
The army did not specify why it ended up lifting the veil on this propaganda campaign.
A “ghost” that appears from the first day of the Russian invasion
The day before the confession of the Ukrainian army, several media – including the British Times – claimed to have identified the famous ghost.
For them, it was Major Stepan Tarabalka, a Ukrainian pilot who died in action on March 13 and who received the honorary title of “Ukrainian hero” for his aerial feats.
#Kyiv #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/wSMpbhS7cY
— Aldin 🇧🇦 (@tinso_ww) February 24, 2022
The eagerness to discover the identity of this “ghost” can be understood.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, this pilot has been erected as a “symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the invader”, recalls Yevgeniy Golovchenko, specialist in Russian disinformation and propaganda mechanisms at the University of Copenhagen.
He appeared on February 24 in a series of tweets posted by a Bosnian Internet user followed by more than 70,000 subscribers and describing himself as “an enthusiast for military affairs”.
This observer marvels at the aerial maneuvers of a Ukrainian army MIG-29.
As the retweets progressed, these early videos were enriched with stories of the military exploits of this “ghost of kyiv” who allegedly shot down six Russian planes in less than 30 hours of combat.
The creation of this myth “comes partly from the Ukrainian population.
I remember a friend to whom I spoke the day after the start of the war who told me that he had seen the 'ghost of kyiv' with his own eyes”, recalls Yevgeniy Golovchenko.
Ukrainian authorities and politicians jumped at the chance to lend a veneer of legitimacy to the adventures of this vigilante from the air.
The government thus posted a video, on February 27, of this “anonymous MIG-29 pilot” who had already shot down ten Russian planes.
Later, it was established that the images used were taken from a video game.
People call him the Ghost of Kyiv.
And rightly so — this UAF ace dominates the skies over our capital and country, and has already become a nightmare for invading Russian aircraft.
pic.twitter.com/lngfaMN01I
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) February 27, 2022
Former President Petro Poroshenko also took to the game by saluting on Twitter the bravery of the “ghost of kyiv” while using, to illustrate his point, a photo from 2019 of a Ukrainian pilot testing a new helmet. aircraft "made in France".
A "simplified" symbol of the beginning of the war in Ukraine
Despite the reservations of several media about the existence of this super-pilot, his legend has only grown.
Shortly before the Ukrainian Air Force's final confession, the anonymous pilot's list had reached 49 Russian planes on social networks.
More, in fact, than the total of Russian air losses since the beginning of the war, according to Oxyx, an independent military analysis site which has counted 26 planes, 39 helicopters and 48 combat drones shot down by Ukrainians on April 30.
What does it matter, in fact, if these exaggerations harm the credibility of the exploits of the "ghost of kyiv": his story illustrates "the extreme simplification of the message of propaganda in time of war", explains Yevgeniy Golovchenko.
Although the narrative of this myth may seem crude, it ticks all the boxes in the manual of the good propagandist seeking to boost the troops' morale.
“The goal is to simplify a complex and frightening reality in order to make it acceptable to the public, which is all the more ready to believe it because the message carries hope”, sums up the expert from the University of Copenhagen.
In this case, the legend of the solitary pilot defeating the Russian air force perfectly symbolizes, in the eyes of the Ukrainians, the beginnings of the war: despite their overwhelming numerical superiority, the Russians failed to quickly control the air and take possession from Kyiv.
From Tolkien's Orcs to the "Ghost of kyiv"
This myth recalls, in this respect, Russian propaganda efforts.
The main message from the Kremlin to justify the “special military operation” was to present it as an offensive to “denazify” Ukraine.
Here too, the subject may seem rude.
But the authorities are counting on the will of the Russians to believe in it, anxious to place themselves in the camp of the “good guys against the bad guys”.
To see on France 24: Seen from Russia: how Russian propaganda builds the image of a “Nazi” Ukraine
This aspect aside, Ukrainian propaganda and that of Russia during this conflict are “very different both in form and in substance”, notes Yevgeniy Golovchenko.
The Kremlin has had a very vertical approach to this information war: the message is first elaborated by the authorities before being picked up and amplified by pro-Russian groups.
In Ukraine, the border is much more blurred: difficult to know who, between the State and the population, is at the origin of the propaganda.
When Internet users post images of abandoned Russian tanks on Twitter to illustrate the “poor state of Russian armament”, the idea for such a campaign does not necessarily come from the government.
In substance too, “Russian propaganda is based on three pillars: it is not a war, it is an operation of surgical precision which only targets the 'Nazi' elements in Ukraine and everything is going well”, summarizes Yevgeniy Golovchenko.
On the Ukrainian side, everything is done to present this conflict “as a total war for the survival of Ukraine”, specifies this researcher.
It is no coincidence that “the Ukrainians gave Russian soldiers the nickname of orcs, a reference to the work of JRR Tolkien [The Lord of the Rings, Editor's note]”, underlines Yevgeniy Golovchenko.
It was already a habit among the Ukrainian military in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, but since the beginning of the war, this comparison has been adopted by all.
“It's a way of dehumanizing Russian soldiers, and comparing them to stupid monsters who can be beaten by showing intelligence,” explains the specialist.
The myth of the "ghost of kyiv" fits perfectly into this logic: isn't it the story of a pilot who, thanks to his intelligence and his know-how alone, triumphs over the hordes enemies?
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