Captain Marat Mambetov, a flight commander with Ukraine’s “Ghost of Kyiv” tactical aviation brigade, was killed while carrying out a combat mission.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Mambetov was flying a MiG-29 fighter jet on Oct. 1 during a combat sortie on one sector of the front, carrying out missile and bomb strikes against Russian positions.
During the mission, his aircraft was hit by a Russian missile. Mambetov managed to eject from the damaged fighter jet but did not survive.
The brigade’s “Ghost of Kyiv” name refers to one of the best-known symbols to emerge during the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. At the time, the “Ghost of Kyiv” was portrayed as a legendary Ukrainian fighter pilot credited with shooting down multiple Russian aircraft. The Ukrainian Air Force later clarified that the Ghost was a collective image representing Ukrainian pilots who defended the skies over Kyiv rather than a single individual.
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