Description
Servicemen and mourners gather in Kyiv for the funeral of the pilot Valentin Korenchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force's 40th Brigade tactical squadron. According to the Air Force, the squadron was deployed from the first day of Russia's invasion and Korenchuk was involved in the shooting down of "a dozen targets", including a Russian bomber, and became wrapped up in the legend of the "Ghost of Kyiv". While clips of the fabled aerial ace that appeared on social media early in the invasion were debunked as being from a video game, the character has since been applied to a series of real life Ukrainian pilots, including Korenchuk. "The whole of Ukraine is in his debt" says Oleksandr Varivoda, director of the NGO 'Defenders of the Sky.' IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES