The Ghost of Kyiv

A Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum taking off

I know it's old news by now, but I can't help but post about it.  The "Ghost of Kyiv" is a solitary MiG-29 pilot, who on the night of the Russian invasion of Ukraine managed to be come the first ace in day in the last 57 years. 

Aided by his ground controllers to identify and intercept his targets, he had come back to base multiple times to rearm and refuel, continuing his mission all day. By the end of the day, he had reportedly downed six Russian aircraft in total. His kills consisted of 2 SU-35 Super Flankers, 1 SU-27 Flanker, 1 MiG 29 Fulcrum, and 2 SU-25 Frogfoots, which earned him the moniker “Ghost of Kiev” by Russian pilots. 

The Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft

A Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter. The Su-35 is an advanced variant that looks almost identical.

Initially this was considered propaganda and spin and this idea was obviously promoted by Russian propaganda. However, earlier the Ukrainian president confirmed the name of the pilot to be Vladimir Andonov and posted a picture to twitter.

As cool as all of this is, the real benefit for us in America is all the memes: