One of the most confusing and controversial news stories of Russia’s ten-week-long invasion of Ukraine is the story of a Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot whose identity—and even reality—has been hotly debated.
I, for one had no trouble following your lead-in and love how you "picked up the stitch" and wove it back in, Seth. And as someone who struggled with Platonian dialectics in ENG Grad school, I am happy to say that "Poetics" saved me as an Indigenous round thinker in a square world. Don't ever let people tell you how to write. You excel in stitching together your incredible bases of knowledge into a multi-threaded work that exponentially informs us, your readers.
Fascinating piece on multiple levels. When you’re done reading, don’t forget to send help to Ukraine through well vetted organizations like World Central Kitchens, amongst others. Слава Україні/ Slava Ukraini/ Glory to Ukraine!
Love your stuff, but this should be the final word that Trebalaka is a hero but was not, individually, The Ghost of Kyev.
From the Ukraine Air Force-
"The information about the death of the The Ghost of #Kyiv is incorrect. The #GhostOfKyiv is alive, it embodies the collective spirit of the highly qualified pilots of the Tactical Aviation Brigade who are successfully defending #Kyiv and the region."
I can't remember whether it was John Kerry or Al Gore who lost a presidential election in part because they said they were against something before they were for it (or for it before they were against it), but as you would certainly understand if you had read the entirety of this essay, countless Ukrainian military sources told Ukrainian media that Stepan was the Ghost of Kyiv *before* they changed their tune following their realization that this confession was a propaganda victory for the Kremlin.
You are opting to take the second (or actually eighth or ninth), less credible, single-source, self-serving, overtly politicized statement of a UAF representative over not just the earlier and more reliable statements by the same entity but *confirmed actions* taken away from the public eye by the President of Ukraine himself.
Respectfully, I think the reason you are doing this is that you are not a journalist, are not an R1 journalism teacher, are not a historian, are not a lawyer, are not a digital studies professor, and do not teach digital literacy to college students—all things I am and/or do. If you were any or all of these things, you would understand how to distinguish reliable information from unreliable information, a self-serving statement from a statement with numerous indicia of reliability, and a single image embedded in a tweet from a raft of reports from major-media news organizations published over the course of a month.
Hopefully if you stick around here a while longer you will get a better sense of how to work through these issues than your comment betrays. I recognize that you are well-intentioned, but in this instance you are doing an inadvertent disservice to both this man's memory and the truth—which is why I must speak quite clearly and forcefully against your comment.
Also, candidly, given that we are speaking of a dead hero who deserves our respect and that your comment is about getting things right, I find it astonishing that I repeatedly referenced Tarabalka by name in my essay and you still butchered both his name *and* his nickname.
Wow. That was condescending. I read all you wrote. You strung a lot of speculative propositions together to say it was "possible" and not unlikely that someone like Stepan, if not Stepan himself, was the "ghost", as ultimately decided by the Ukraine military. It's also a possibility that there are multiple pilots with similar records and it was never important which particular pilot it referred to.
" You wrote- "countless Ukrainian military sources told Ukrainian media that Stepan was the Ghost of Kyiv *before* they changed their tune."
I'm more than willing to believe you. You're usually very meticulous with you sources. I don't need countless. I'll settle for two.
Regarding The Times article and Kyiv Post articles, revealing Stepan as "the ghost", you write "The source for these reports is, again as expected, the Ukrainian military."
The Times article does not say this. It merely says "Ukrainian sources had earlier said that Tarabalka, a MiG-29 pilot, was known as the “Ghost of Kyiv”." Ukranian sources" are not Ukranian military sources.
The Ukranian military source it does quote specifically says Tarabalka is NOT the Ghost of Kyiv.
In fact, the article your piece links to has now changed its headline. It now reads- "Ghost of Kyiv is alive in all pilots fighting for ukraine, says air force." I suggest you check.
Just so, the Kyiv Post article you cite, says the the Defence Ministry DID NOT confirm him as The Ghost. "“Tarabalka ‘went to heaven’ during an air battle with overwhelming forces of the Russian invaders,” is all that the Defense Ministry said. That's "all" the Ukranian Miliary said. No more, no less.
The only reference to him actually being "the ghost" is a quote from The Times article.
You question my ability to distinguish "reliable information", but two of the three articles you cite- The Times and The New York Post- are both Rupert Murdoch ventures with questionable commitment to "reliable information". And, as mentioned, the former has done a complete 180 on the exaggerated demise of the the ghost.
You write "the report indicates Maj. Tarabalka has been given Ukraine’s highest posthumous honors by current Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky." It should be obvious that this is evidence of his heroism, not of his identity as the ghost.
From what I can see, you've given absolutely no credible source that Ukraine military, either officially or unofficially, said that Stepan was the ghost before he died or after he died. Similarly, you've given no source that Zelensky acknowledged Stepan as the ghost when awarding him a medal. If I've missed the citations, I'd be very grateful and apologetic if you could show me them.
(I apologise for "butchering" names. I'm just a wandering bonobo with ADHD and 100 twitter followers. I often get things wrong. I'm not an NYT bestseller with nearly 1m followers. I have higher expectations of you. I wouldn't even write this to you if I didn't have such high regard for your work and how well you substantiate it and how surprised I am that you've drawn these conclusions from the articles you cite. And also quite chuffed and fanboying that you even acknowledge my lowly existence!)
Thanks for this! It as saved me from writing a similar (but less comprehensive) reply!!!
I too love Seth's work, but I follow the Ukraine reporting (from several sources) and totally agree with your assessment.
I wonder if the having to have one distinct "hero" is a result of US "cultural norms"? Certainly to date Ukrainians have been steadfast in crediting the whole population with being "the hero" of the story, the example of Zelenskyy being the most prominent. In any interviews, leaders constantly hold up the entire population as the heroes of the fact that Russia has been stymied to date.
I would only add 2 things
(a) it is the pilot's JOB to shoot down Russian aircraft, and unless he saved the nation by crashing his own plane into a Russian one to prevent a major bombing, one can accept he is very skillful, but he is doing what he is trained to do. All fighter pilots are in a risky business by definition.
The child venturing out during the bombing to get food for people sheltering in the bunker doesn't have the cool fighter pilot vibe, but I would put his heroism high on any scale - along with countless courageous ground fighters taking on tanks on foot; shooting down helos & incoming; rescuing people while under fire; hospital workers keeping going in bomb shelters during constant bombardment; ad intinitum.
b) that due to the TIMING of this pilot's "work" at the beginning of hostilities when Russia was trying to take Kyviv, his and other pilot's efforts had an outsized effect on preventing the aerial component becoming decisive. Had they failed, perhaps the outcome would have been different. And the "legend" of the Ghost in propaganda was at it's most likely to impact on Russian morale? Right place right time to do your best work ...
Anyways Seth, I appreciate your efforts, but in this case don't agree with your assessment which is, by your own admission, a case of reading between the lines and drawing conclusions, and on a subject of no relevance in the scheme of the war in Ukraine. They don't need to laud an individual above the many thousands of courageous Ukrainians & others who have less visible parts to play - without them the work of the pilots would be wasted.
This is very well done! I had thought the story of the 'Ghost' had gotten lost in the shuffle but am now quite glad to have learned all the detail; in a time that humankind can use all the heroes we can get, we're lucky to have had the 'Ghost of Kyiv'! Slava Ukraini!
Very well written and intriguing information about meme magic. Having previously never heard of 4chan, it’s very interesting information to have. Thank you for your writing and understanding of the truth as opposed to propaganda. I am impressed by the “ghost of kviv” as an individual or as the entire UAF of Ukraine! May they continue to defend their country and remain a democracy as they wish to be!
I did a search for the text that Illia Ponomarenko tweeted as a screenshot on April 30 (having typed up an excerpt using an online Ukrainian keyboard tool).
The source of the text appears to be the Командування Повітряних Сил ЗСУ / Air Force Command of UA Armed Forces Facebook account, and the post in question (also from April 30) is here: https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/363834939117794. (It was also posted on the UAF Telegram account.) I quote in relevant part:
"❗️ПРОСИМО НЕ НАПОВНЮВАТИ ІНФОПРОСТІР ФЕЙКАМИ❗️
"----------------------------------
[...]
"❗️ Герой України Степан Тарабалка НЕ «Привид Києва» і він НЕ збив 40 літаків.
"13 березня 2022 року майор Степан Тарабалка героїчно загинув у повітряному бою з переважаючими силами російських окупантів. Ось інформація про нього на нашій офіційній сторінці: https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/339462291555059.
"Привид Києва – це супергерой-легенда, чию постать створили українці! Це швидше збірний образ пілотів 40-ї бригади тактичної авіації Повітряних Сил, які захищають небо столиці. Які раптово з’являються там, де їх не чекають!
[...]
"🖊Служба зв’язків з громадськістю Командування Повітряних Сил Збройних Сил України"
Google Translate provides the following translation:
"PLEASE DO NOT FILL THE INFOSPACE WITH FAKES !!!
[...]
"Hero of Ukraine Stepan Tarabalka is NOT "Ghost of Kiev" and he did NOT shoot down 40 planes.
"On March 13, 2022, Major Stepan Tarabalka died heroically in an air battle with the overwhelming forces of the Russian occupiers. Here is information about him on our official website: https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/339462291555059.
"The ghost of Kyiv is a superhero-legend, whose figure was created by Ukrainians! It is rather a collective image of the pilots of the 40th Brigade of Tactical Aviation of the Air Force, which protects the sky of the capital. Which suddenly appear where they are not expected!
[...]
"🖊Public Service of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
Illia's English text in this tweet and the one that followed is thus a rough translation of the Ukrainian in the screenshot.
I follow Ukraine "news" & "opinion" from a wide range of sources - Ukraine does not need an identified single "hero" such as this mythical "ghost", nor does their national pysche seem to want one. Irrelevant to the outcome of the war with Russia, apart from the critical first few days - it is the collective efforts of the people, whether pilots, soldiers, grandmas with guns, medics in bomb shelters etc. who are the difference between winning & losing IMHO. The identified pilot was simply doing his job - possibly more effectively than others - but his job nonetheless. If they do it to be seen as "heroes" rather than to defend their homeland, I would be surprised with what we have learned of the Ukrainian people.
You do very important work and I’m grateful for that, but reading your pieces is exhausting. I was into the 5th loooong paragraph on “meme magic” when I had to go back up to the top to see if I was reading the correct post. And so much speculation: maybe it was a Venezuelan named Vladimir…WTF?
Remember Polonius’s above to Hamlet: brevity is the soul of wit. Longer does not mean better. The abbreviation tl/dr exists for a reason. The details get lost in the noise of the redundancy and speculation.
Sorry for the confusion about Venezuela; I was merely making a rhetorical point about how the origins of memes are often cloaked in darkness. I put the information on "meme magic" in the Introduction to do what introductions often do: set a context. The context for the story I am telling here *is* the operation of memes in digital culture, whether that is a subject you are natively interested in or not. I hope that once the essay proper began, you felt it took a more direct line through its subject.
You should understand that I teach writing and that when I do, I do not teach that there is a single correct way to write (basic precepts like grammar and syntax notwithstanding); each communicator needs to communicate in a way consistent with their poetics—an ancient term that I teach in a modern context. I am, for many reasons, a maximalist, and that is not going to change.
I am not a maximalist because I think longer means better, but because I know the writer I am and I am not going to run from it to please people. If you want someone with no poetics whatsoever who writes succinctly and always with the aim to please his audience, Chris Cillizza is your man. Not me. All that said, I really do appreciate that you put in the time and effort to read this.
I appreciate you took the time to reply. I suppose there is room in this world for both War and Peace and The Old Man and the Sea, and neither one is inherently “better”.
I guess I also expected a different type of piece: I now know more about the Ghost of Kiev the meme, when I expected to learn about the Ghost of Kiev the man. Missions flown, confirmed kills, how he died. I guess that info just isn’t out there.
I, for one had no trouble following your lead-in and love how you "picked up the stitch" and wove it back in, Seth. And as someone who struggled with Platonian dialectics in ENG Grad school, I am happy to say that "Poetics" saved me as an Indigenous round thinker in a square world. Don't ever let people tell you how to write. You excel in stitching together your incredible bases of knowledge into a multi-threaded work that exponentially informs us, your readers.
What a hero. Great story!
Fascinating piece on multiple levels. When you’re done reading, don’t forget to send help to Ukraine through well vetted organizations like World Central Kitchens, amongst others. Слава Україні/ Slava Ukraini/ Glory to Ukraine!
Love your stuff, but this should be the final word that Trebalaka is a hero but was not, individually, The Ghost of Kyev.
From the Ukraine Air Force-
"The information about the death of the The Ghost of #Kyiv is incorrect. The #GhostOfKyiv is alive, it embodies the collective spirit of the highly qualified pilots of the Tactical Aviation Brigade who are successfully defending #Kyiv and the region."
https://twitter.com/KpsZSU/status/1520572588560470016
I can't remember whether it was John Kerry or Al Gore who lost a presidential election in part because they said they were against something before they were for it (or for it before they were against it), but as you would certainly understand if you had read the entirety of this essay, countless Ukrainian military sources told Ukrainian media that Stepan was the Ghost of Kyiv *before* they changed their tune following their realization that this confession was a propaganda victory for the Kremlin.
You are opting to take the second (or actually eighth or ninth), less credible, single-source, self-serving, overtly politicized statement of a UAF representative over not just the earlier and more reliable statements by the same entity but *confirmed actions* taken away from the public eye by the President of Ukraine himself.
Respectfully, I think the reason you are doing this is that you are not a journalist, are not an R1 journalism teacher, are not a historian, are not a lawyer, are not a digital studies professor, and do not teach digital literacy to college students—all things I am and/or do. If you were any or all of these things, you would understand how to distinguish reliable information from unreliable information, a self-serving statement from a statement with numerous indicia of reliability, and a single image embedded in a tweet from a raft of reports from major-media news organizations published over the course of a month.
Hopefully if you stick around here a while longer you will get a better sense of how to work through these issues than your comment betrays. I recognize that you are well-intentioned, but in this instance you are doing an inadvertent disservice to both this man's memory and the truth—which is why I must speak quite clearly and forcefully against your comment.
Also, candidly, given that we are speaking of a dead hero who deserves our respect and that your comment is about getting things right, I find it astonishing that I repeatedly referenced Tarabalka by name in my essay and you still butchered both his name *and* his nickname.
Wow. That was condescending. I read all you wrote. You strung a lot of speculative propositions together to say it was "possible" and not unlikely that someone like Stepan, if not Stepan himself, was the "ghost", as ultimately decided by the Ukraine military. It's also a possibility that there are multiple pilots with similar records and it was never important which particular pilot it referred to.
" You wrote- "countless Ukrainian military sources told Ukrainian media that Stepan was the Ghost of Kyiv *before* they changed their tune."
I'm more than willing to believe you. You're usually very meticulous with you sources. I don't need countless. I'll settle for two.
Regarding The Times article and Kyiv Post articles, revealing Stepan as "the ghost", you write "The source for these reports is, again as expected, the Ukrainian military."
The Times article does not say this. It merely says "Ukrainian sources had earlier said that Tarabalka, a MiG-29 pilot, was known as the “Ghost of Kyiv”." Ukranian sources" are not Ukranian military sources.
The Ukranian military source it does quote specifically says Tarabalka is NOT the Ghost of Kyiv.
In fact, the article your piece links to has now changed its headline. It now reads- "Ghost of Kyiv is alive in all pilots fighting for ukraine, says air force." I suggest you check.
Just so, the Kyiv Post article you cite, says the the Defence Ministry DID NOT confirm him as The Ghost. "“Tarabalka ‘went to heaven’ during an air battle with overwhelming forces of the Russian invaders,” is all that the Defense Ministry said. That's "all" the Ukranian Miliary said. No more, no less.
The only reference to him actually being "the ghost" is a quote from The Times article.
You question my ability to distinguish "reliable information", but two of the three articles you cite- The Times and The New York Post- are both Rupert Murdoch ventures with questionable commitment to "reliable information". And, as mentioned, the former has done a complete 180 on the exaggerated demise of the the ghost.
You write "the report indicates Maj. Tarabalka has been given Ukraine’s highest posthumous honors by current Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky." It should be obvious that this is evidence of his heroism, not of his identity as the ghost.
From what I can see, you've given absolutely no credible source that Ukraine military, either officially or unofficially, said that Stepan was the ghost before he died or after he died. Similarly, you've given no source that Zelensky acknowledged Stepan as the ghost when awarding him a medal. If I've missed the citations, I'd be very grateful and apologetic if you could show me them.
(I apologise for "butchering" names. I'm just a wandering bonobo with ADHD and 100 twitter followers. I often get things wrong. I'm not an NYT bestseller with nearly 1m followers. I have higher expectations of you. I wouldn't even write this to you if I didn't have such high regard for your work and how well you substantiate it and how surprised I am that you've drawn these conclusions from the articles you cite. And also quite chuffed and fanboying that you even acknowledge my lowly existence!)
Thanks for this! It as saved me from writing a similar (but less comprehensive) reply!!!
I too love Seth's work, but I follow the Ukraine reporting (from several sources) and totally agree with your assessment.
I wonder if the having to have one distinct "hero" is a result of US "cultural norms"? Certainly to date Ukrainians have been steadfast in crediting the whole population with being "the hero" of the story, the example of Zelenskyy being the most prominent. In any interviews, leaders constantly hold up the entire population as the heroes of the fact that Russia has been stymied to date.
I would only add 2 things
(a) it is the pilot's JOB to shoot down Russian aircraft, and unless he saved the nation by crashing his own plane into a Russian one to prevent a major bombing, one can accept he is very skillful, but he is doing what he is trained to do. All fighter pilots are in a risky business by definition.
The child venturing out during the bombing to get food for people sheltering in the bunker doesn't have the cool fighter pilot vibe, but I would put his heroism high on any scale - along with countless courageous ground fighters taking on tanks on foot; shooting down helos & incoming; rescuing people while under fire; hospital workers keeping going in bomb shelters during constant bombardment; ad intinitum.
b) that due to the TIMING of this pilot's "work" at the beginning of hostilities when Russia was trying to take Kyviv, his and other pilot's efforts had an outsized effect on preventing the aerial component becoming decisive. Had they failed, perhaps the outcome would have been different. And the "legend" of the Ghost in propaganda was at it's most likely to impact on Russian morale? Right place right time to do your best work ...
Anyways Seth, I appreciate your efforts, but in this case don't agree with your assessment which is, by your own admission, a case of reading between the lines and drawing conclusions, and on a subject of no relevance in the scheme of the war in Ukraine. They don't need to laud an individual above the many thousands of courageous Ukrainians & others who have less visible parts to play - without them the work of the pilots would be wasted.
Lol, wrong.
This is very well done! I had thought the story of the 'Ghost' had gotten lost in the shuffle but am now quite glad to have learned all the detail; in a time that humankind can use all the heroes we can get, we're lucky to have had the 'Ghost of Kyiv'! Slava Ukraini!
Very well written and intriguing information about meme magic. Having previously never heard of 4chan, it’s very interesting information to have. Thank you for your writing and understanding of the truth as opposed to propaganda. I am impressed by the “ghost of kviv” as an individual or as the entire UAF of Ukraine! May they continue to defend their country and remain a democracy as they wish to be!
I did a search for the text that Illia Ponomarenko tweeted as a screenshot on April 30 (having typed up an excerpt using an online Ukrainian keyboard tool).
The source of the text appears to be the Командування Повітряних Сил ЗСУ / Air Force Command of UA Armed Forces Facebook account, and the post in question (also from April 30) is here: https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/363834939117794. (It was also posted on the UAF Telegram account.) I quote in relevant part:
"❗️ПРОСИМО НЕ НАПОВНЮВАТИ ІНФОПРОСТІР ФЕЙКАМИ❗️
"----------------------------------
[...]
"❗️ Герой України Степан Тарабалка НЕ «Привид Києва» і він НЕ збив 40 літаків.
"13 березня 2022 року майор Степан Тарабалка героїчно загинув у повітряному бою з переважаючими силами російських окупантів. Ось інформація про нього на нашій офіційній сторінці: https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/339462291555059.
"Привид Києва – це супергерой-легенда, чию постать створили українці! Це швидше збірний образ пілотів 40-ї бригади тактичної авіації Повітряних Сил, які захищають небо столиці. Які раптово з’являються там, де їх не чекають!
[...]
"🖊Служба зв’язків з громадськістю Командування Повітряних Сил Збройних Сил України"
Google Translate provides the following translation:
"PLEASE DO NOT FILL THE INFOSPACE WITH FAKES !!!
[...]
"Hero of Ukraine Stepan Tarabalka is NOT "Ghost of Kiev" and he did NOT shoot down 40 planes.
"On March 13, 2022, Major Stepan Tarabalka died heroically in an air battle with the overwhelming forces of the Russian occupiers. Here is information about him on our official website: https://www.facebook.com/kpszsu/posts/339462291555059.
"The ghost of Kyiv is a superhero-legend, whose figure was created by Ukrainians! It is rather a collective image of the pilots of the 40th Brigade of Tactical Aviation of the Air Force, which protects the sky of the capital. Which suddenly appear where they are not expected!
[...]
"🖊Public Service of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
Illia's English text in this tweet and the one that followed is thus a rough translation of the Ukrainian in the screenshot.
I follow Ukraine "news" & "opinion" from a wide range of sources - Ukraine does not need an identified single "hero" such as this mythical "ghost", nor does their national pysche seem to want one. Irrelevant to the outcome of the war with Russia, apart from the critical first few days - it is the collective efforts of the people, whether pilots, soldiers, grandmas with guns, medics in bomb shelters etc. who are the difference between winning & losing IMHO. The identified pilot was simply doing his job - possibly more effectively than others - but his job nonetheless. If they do it to be seen as "heroes" rather than to defend their homeland, I would be surprised with what we have learned of the Ukrainian people.
How long before an American gets a joust? Air superiority is something only the USA can offer, decisively. With our services
I held it in until the second to last paragraph then I lost it. I had to do a little bawling before I could finish.
i have to get drunk and be ready to die before i read Seth’s emails!
You do very important work and I’m grateful for that, but reading your pieces is exhausting. I was into the 5th loooong paragraph on “meme magic” when I had to go back up to the top to see if I was reading the correct post. And so much speculation: maybe it was a Venezuelan named Vladimir…WTF?
Remember Polonius’s above to Hamlet: brevity is the soul of wit. Longer does not mean better. The abbreviation tl/dr exists for a reason. The details get lost in the noise of the redundancy and speculation.
Sorry for the confusion about Venezuela; I was merely making a rhetorical point about how the origins of memes are often cloaked in darkness. I put the information on "meme magic" in the Introduction to do what introductions often do: set a context. The context for the story I am telling here *is* the operation of memes in digital culture, whether that is a subject you are natively interested in or not. I hope that once the essay proper began, you felt it took a more direct line through its subject.
You should understand that I teach writing and that when I do, I do not teach that there is a single correct way to write (basic precepts like grammar and syntax notwithstanding); each communicator needs to communicate in a way consistent with their poetics—an ancient term that I teach in a modern context. I am, for many reasons, a maximalist, and that is not going to change.
I am not a maximalist because I think longer means better, but because I know the writer I am and I am not going to run from it to please people. If you want someone with no poetics whatsoever who writes succinctly and always with the aim to please his audience, Chris Cillizza is your man. Not me. All that said, I really do appreciate that you put in the time and effort to read this.
I appreciate you took the time to reply. I suppose there is room in this world for both War and Peace and The Old Man and the Sea, and neither one is inherently “better”.
I guess I also expected a different type of piece: I now know more about the Ghost of Kiev the meme, when I expected to learn about the Ghost of Kiev the man. Missions flown, confirmed kills, how he died. I guess that info just isn’t out there.