The deadly fighter pilot dubbed the 'Ghost of Kyiv' and reported to have shot down more than 40 Russian planes has been killed in battle, Ukrainian officials say.
The Mirror reports that Major Stepan Tarabalka lost his life when the MiG-29 he was flying was downed while battling "overwhelming" enemy forces, according to Bogdan Stanislavsky, the mayor of the western Ukrainian city of Kolomyia.
Tarabalka, a 29-year-old father-of-one, became a cult figure when he was reported to have shot down six Russian aircraft on the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, February 24. His total was said to have reached more than 40 by the time of his death.
