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Who was Petro Dziuba? Russia uses UKRAINIAN pilot on propaganda poster after bombing cemetery where he's buried

The decorated soldier was born in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region and lived in Kharkiv until his death in 1965

A Russian poster celebrating Victory Day on Monday, May 9, reportedly depicted a Ukrainian pilot from the Soviet era who shot down 16 German planes in World War II. The photos made the rounds on social media and sparked outrage amid claims that Russia had bombed the Kharkiv cemetery where airman Petro Dzubia was buried.

This comes just days after it emerged that the so-called 'Ghost of Kyiv' was merely a figment of Ukrainians' imagination. Several news outlets identified Major Stepan Tarabalka, a 29-year-old dad who was recently killed in battle, as the legendary fighter pilot who had taken down scores of Russian aircraft. However, Ukrainian military officials later debunked those claims, declaring that the 'Ghost of Kyiv' was a legend created by the people of Ukraine.

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Who is Petro Dziuba?

Petro Dzubia was a World War II hero who reportedly shot down 16 German planes. The decorated soldier was born in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region and lived in Kharkiv until his death in 1965. According to the Kyiv city magazine Hmarochos, Kharkiv has even named one of its avenues after him. It's worth noting that both Kostiantynivka and Kharkiv suffered significantly from shelling by Vladimir Putin's forces in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Dziuba was buried in Kharkiv's G10 Cemetery, one of nine cemeteries bombed by the Russian army.

Social media was flooded with posts calling out the apparent Russian hypocrisy and treatment of its heroes.

"Neo Soviet Propaganda isn't that good. This picture shows Ukrainian Peter Dziuba, a hero of USSR. In 2022, we bombed his native city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk region, and also the cemetery in Kharkov, where he is buried. I am surrounded by idiocy," one tweeted.

"Russia's posters devoted to the victory in WW2 feature a Ukrainian Petro Dziuba, an aircraft pilot, whose home in Kostiantynivka (Donetsk' oblast) as well as the graveyard in Kharkiv where he lays have been recently bombed. That is a russian way to commemorate heroes of the war," another wrote.

"The posters hung in Russia depict the legendary Ukrainian pilot Petro Dziuba. Without the heroes, the feat of a World War II would be impossible, but the ru do not even understand who exactly led the Soviet Union to the victory!" a comment read.

"Russian propagandists have depicted on posters for #VictoryDay a Ukrainian pilot, #WorldWarII hero Petro Dziuba. The #Russians made such a great contribution to the victory over Nazism that there isn’t enough Russian heroes even for posters. Even the hero was stolen… #9may," someone else added.

"I somehow think Ukrainian hero Peter Dziuba, from Konstantinovka, might have had an idea who the Nazis were," another quipped.

In another alleged instance of Russian propaganda, the Kremlin released a video last month purportedly showing the survivors of the sunken Moskva warship. The video notably showed the captain who was said to have been killed in the Black Sea during a missile attack by Ukraine. A virtual Moscow news blackout led to people speculating that hundreds had been killed. However, the footage showed naval chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov, 60, addressing naval officers and seamen in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.

Ukraine had previously claimed that the entire crew of the 12,500-ton vessel had perished. The crew consisted of 510 people, including Anton Kuprin, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. On April 15, several people were seen holding a vigil in a town square in Sevastopol. Having said that, the controversial video footage showing Yevmenov alive and well couldn't be independently verified.