Colonel "Did" who led "ghosts of Kyiv" killed in battle over the sea
OLENA ROSHCHINA — MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2022, 09:03
Colonel Mykhailo "Did" ["Granddad"] Matiushenko, who led a group of pilots who became legendary as the "Ghost of Kyiv", has been killed in the skies over the Black Sea. He died in June and is only now being buried in Bucha.
Source: Anatolii Fedoruk, Mayor of Bucha, on Facebook
Quote: "While performing a combat mission in an air battle, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Matiushenko (08.01.1961-26.06.2022) heroically died defending the country's skies. He was from Bucha and was killed in the skies over the Black Sea.
This military pilot flew many types of military and civilian aircraft. He served in various military units, and before the war he worked as a manager of a Ukrainian airline.
He was a successful man but never boasted about what he did. Playing an active civic role, he headed up a public law enforcement organisation.
Mikhail ‘Did’ Matyushenko passed on his invaluable operational experience to the younger generation.
And only now do we have the right to tell the truth: the "Ghost of Kyiv" was led by a pilot from Bucha."
Details: Fedoruk said that since Colonel Maiushenko’s arrival in command, the 40th tactical aviation brigade had not suffered any air losses. All the pilots from the "Kyiv ghosts" came back alive.
"One night, ‘Did’ darted into a dogfight with an L-39, mimicking a MiG-29 attack on a pair of Su-30s. And what do you think? They backed off!", as one of his fellow airmen recalls.
Later he decided to reinforce the southern and eastern fronts: "When ‘Did’ found out about the irreversible losses of trained bomber crews, the decision was made. And thus a new operation began."
This was Mykhailo Matiushenko's last mission. He did not return from his next sortie, and it took a long time to find him.
The Mayor of Bucha said that the Colonel's body was able to be brought home on 2 October.
Mykhailo Matiushenko’s funeral will take place on 3 October, at 14:00, in Bucha.
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