Stepan Ivanovych Tarabalka (; 9 January 1993 – 13 March 2022), in English media also referred to as Stephen Tarabalka, was a Ukrainian

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

, a pilot and a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 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 ...

. He served during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, including the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Early life and education

Tarabalka was born on 9 January 1993 in Korolivka,

Kolomyia Raion Kolomyia Raion () is a raion (district) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (region). The administrative center of the raion is the city of Kolomyia. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Iva ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, where he grew up as part of a poor family. His family regularly worked in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, where they could earn a better living, but returned to Ukraine frequently. He lived near a military base, and constantly saw military aircraft landing nearby, which inspired him from an early age to become a pilot. Tarabalka supported himself through military school and then flight school, studying at 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 ...

and graduating in 2014.

Career

The initial conflict in 2014, involving Russian annexation of Crimea and conflict in the east of Ukraine with two secessionist states, was Tarabalka's first experience in combat. This saw him gain experience flying support missions over the Donbas region. Tarabalka was shot down on 13 March 2022 in the sky over

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

, Ukraine, while he was piloting 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 ...

during a

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...

against several Russian fighter jets. International media speculated whether the so-called " Ghost of Kyiv" and Tarabalka were in fact the same person, or whether the Ghost legend was simply made up and then applied to Tarabalka after his death, when his success against the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

was known. However, an interview was published in April 2022 with a pilot discussing the Ghost (who was a member of his unit) before his identity was released. In the interview, the pilot indicated details that match Tarabalka as the Ghost, including the fact he flew a MiG-29 and was 29 years old. According to the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Tarabalka was not the "Ghost of Kyiv". The total amount of 40 aircraft shot down was done together by the pilots of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade. Other sources, including the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, indicated that Tarabalka himself had shot down the 40 aircraft.

Death

Tarabalka was killed in action on 13 March 2022, at the age of 29, with rumours at the time raising suspicion he was the mysterious Ghost figure. According to Ukrainian sources, he died while on a mission, outnumbered in a dogfight. Tarabalka was buried in a cemetery in Korolivka, near

Kolomyia Kolomyia (, ), formerly known as Kolomea, is a city located on the Prut, Prut River in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in the west of Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Kolomyia Raion, hosting the administration of Kolomyia urban hromada ...

. The Ukrainian Government planned to auction his helmet and gloves to raise funds for the ongoing conflict. It posthumously awarded him Ukraine's top award for bravery, the Order of the Golden Star, with the title

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 ...

Personal life

Tarabalka was married and had an 8-year-old son at the time of his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarabalka, Stephen 1993 births 2022 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down Military personnel from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine) Ukrainian Air Force officers Ukrainian military personnel killed in the Kyiv offensive Ukrainian military aviators Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2022