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The Ghost of Kyiv: How a videogame scene inspired Ukraine to believe in a legend

Former Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko shared picture of a fighter pilot who he claims is the 'Ghost of Kyiv'

The situation between Ukraine and Russia is getting intense after Moscow launched a full-fledged war against the Eastern European country, reportedly killing around 200 people. As of Saturday, February 26, fighting continues in the streets of capital Kyiv while locals pray for their safety. In such a time, any news about Ukrainian victory over Russians, however apocryphal, is latched on by the people as a morale boosting talisman.

One such instance was a miscaptioned viral video that gave rise to the legend of the "Ghost of Kyiv". The viral video shows a mysterious MiG-29 jet appearing over Kyiv to fight against the Russians. The purported Ukrainian jet fighter in the video was named the "Ghost of Kyiv” by people on the internet, who claimed  that he had apparently shot down multiple Russian jets.

The caption read, “Ukrainian pilot who is 6-0 shoots down a Russian Su-35 with his Mig-29. He’s been nicknamed the ghost of Kyiv, and is the first pilot since WW2 to achieve ace status!” Reportedly, “ace” status is given to a pilot when they demolish five or more aircraft during a war.

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However, fact-checking website Snopes has now claimed that the video is not real. It’s actually a simulation game made with Digital Combat Simulator, initially released in 2008. According to Reuters, “DCS is short for Digital Combat Simulator World, ‘free-to-play’ digital battlefield game developed by Eagle Dynamics.” Matthias Techmanski, Eagle Dynamics’ spokesperson, confirmed the fact by saying: “We are not responsible for its distribution, nor do we endorse such content.”

Snopes added that the “video was originally posted to YouTube by ‘Comrade_Corb.’ The original caption identified this clip as a simulation and noted that it was created as an homage to the "Ghost of Kyiv"."

The caption of Comrade_Corb's YouTube video read: “This footage is from DCS, but is nevertheless made out of respect for ‘The Ghost of Kiev.’ If he is real, may God be with him; if he is fake, I pray for more like ‘him.’”

However, this hasn't deterred the myth of "Ghost of Kiev" from taking root in the minds of Ukrainians. Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko shared a picture of a fighter pilot who he claimed is the "Ghost of Kyiv". He captioned the picture: "In the photo - the MiG-29 pilot. The same "Ghost of Kiev". It terrifies enemies and pride Ukrainians. He has 6 victories over Russian pilots! With such powerful defenders, Ukraine will definitely win!”

It's not clear whether the "Ghost of Kyiv" really exists and the pilot in the picture shared by Poroshenko is actually him. Many claimed that Poroshenko’s intention was to boost public morale, not share fake information.

However, people aren't bothered whether the "Ghost of Kyiv" is someone's figment of imagination as they are still rooting for him. A user wrote below Poroshenko’s tweet: “Ignore Russian government glowies trying to put down the good people of Ukraines morale. As far as I'm concerned the Ghost is real, be it a tangible person or the spirit of the people. The Ghost will put down those who oppose the peoples will.” Another user tweeted, “Oh I didn't see Ghost of Kyiv wasn't real :) Just that this photo probably wasn't. Love the idea of Ghost of Kyiv :D.”

“Real or not it is already good propaganda. People all over are rooting for this supposed/real mysterious hero. This dude is probably the single most talked about war hero of the 21st century, and is hopefully fueling Ukrainians with hope. I’m Canadian and I’m rooting for him,” the third user added.

And when a person said, “Ukrainian officials are the ones making these claims, not random people on the internet. What would you like them to do? Are you under the impression that everybody has a scoreboard they can pull up? Wanna check his K/D?” another one noted: “The government lies to keep people fighting, that's understandable.”