Marat Mambetov, captain of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade “Ghost of Kyiv,” was killed on October 1 during a combat mission when his MiG-29 fighter jet was shot down by Russian forces.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the pilot ejected but, unfortunately, did not survive. Marat Redvanovich Mambetov was a flight leader and was carrying out a mission to deliver missile and bomb strikes against the positions of Russian occupiers.
The exact location of the pilot’s death has not been specified, but it is known that the incident occurred along one of the front lines. The Air Force command expressed its condolences to the pilot’s family and loved ones, emphasizing that he “defended Ukraine until his last breath.”
This summer, Ukraine has suffered losses among its combat aircraft; specifically, on June 16, a Su-24M bomber crashed in the Khmelnytskyi region, killing both crew members.
The State Bureau of Investigations has already decoded the plane’s “black box,” determining that the crash occurred at an altitude of over 600 meters at a speed of 809 km/h. In late June, another incident occurred in the Poltava region when a MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during a combat mission, but the pilot was able to eject and survived.
