Vadym Oleksandrovych Voroshylov (; callsign "''Karaya''"; 2 February 1994) is a fighter pilot of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

, and a recipient of the

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

award. He took his call sign, ''Karaya'', in honor of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

German fighter pilot

Erich Hartmann Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial comb ...

, the most successful

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

in the history of

aerial warfare Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking tactical bombing, enemy installations or a concentration of enemy troops or Strategic bombing, strategic targets; fi ...

Biography

In 2011, he graduated from the Kremenchuk Military Lyceum, and in 2015 he graduated (with honors; specialty — Military Administration (Air Force) and in 2016 he earned a (Master's degree, with honors, specialty — management of aviation units) from the

Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University The Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University ( KNAFU, ) is a state university administered by the Ministry of Defence (Ukraine), Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and is located in the city of Kharkiv. The university is named in honor of ...

. After graduation, he was assigned to the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade, where he served as a pilot (2016–2018), senior pilot (2018–2020) of the aviation link of the aviation squadron and head of the flight safety service (2020–2021). In 2017, he became the best young pilot of the South Air Command. In 2020, following the results of flight competitions, he was named the "Best Fighter Crew of the Air Force of Ukraine". In 2021, at the end of his contract, he resigned from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He worked as a senior aviation chief at a civilian airfield.

Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)

On February 24, 2022, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he resumed his service. At first, he flew missions over the Zhytomyr Oblast. After that, he flew over the Izyum and eastern directions, and later over the Kherson Oblast. On October 10, during a massive missile attack, he shot down two Russian cruise missiles. On October 12, according to Ukrainian officials he destroyed five

Shahed 136 The HESA Shahed 136 (, ), also known by its Russian designation Geran-2 (, ), is an Iranian-designed loitering munition, also referred to as a kamikaze drone or suicide drone, in the form of an Autonomous aircraft, autonomous Pusher configurat ...

drones: three in southern Ukraine and two over

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...

. Due to the damage to his fighter aircraft, a

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...

, Voroshylov ejected over the Vinnytsia region, having previously diverted the fighter jet from a settlement. He received the

award for his actions, and acquired the nickname "Ghost of Vinnytsia".

Awards

(2022) *

Order for Courage The Order for Courage () is a Ukrainian award established by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma on August 21, 1996. Design by Ukrainian artist Mykola Lebid. Awards of the President of Ukraine for Courage Before August, 1996, personal bravery ha ...

, III class (2022)Указ Президента України від 8 серпня 2022 року № 569/2022
Про відзначення державними нагородами України
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References

External links

* * Олехнович, А
Шолом від крові не відмиватиму, збережу для історії — Герой України льотчик KARAYA
АрміяInform, 08.12.2022.
«Привид Вінниці»: біографія пілота, який врятував місто від іранських дронів та авіакатастрофи (Фото)
Vinbazar, 17.10.2022. * Климковецький, М
Стало відомо ім'я льотчика, який збив 5 російських дронів і зазнав аварії під Вінницею
hromadske, 15.10.2022. * Олехнович, А
Льотчик-винищувач KARAYA, який збив 5 «Шахедів» і катапультувався на Вінниччині: «Працюймо далі! До повного знищення ворога»
АрміяInform, 14.10.2022. * Долотова, Д
Пілоти НАТО ще повчаться! Історія військового льотчика на псевдо Karaya, який невтомно захищає українське небо
Вікна-новини, 29.08.2022.

33 Канал, 15.10.2022. * ''Пагулич, Р.'

Радіо Свобода, 19.07.2021.

Biography

Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)

Awards

References

External links

See also