Anyone remember during the early reports about the Russian Ukrainian conflict how the ghost of kiev was a subject of discussion?
Well idk what plane it was I do know that ac7 had a few mods that had custom liveries
We all want the "Ghost of Kyiv" to be true, but all signs point to this unfortunately not being the case. However, in an effort to prevent people from spamming this story to this subreddit multiple times a minute (which is what we were dealing with when this story caught fire yesterday), we've turned this PSA into a megathread and are bending our normal rules to allow discussion of this subject.
The "Ghost of Kiev" is a false rumor apparently started by a War Thunder youtuber.
As Defense Journalist and military aviation expert Steve Trimble implies, this story simply isn't plausible from a technical perspective.
See this comment for more information on why this can't be true.
Update: The War Thunder youtuber who irresponsibly started this rumor is now trying to walk it back.
Update 2: It appears that the plan was to merchandise this rumor all along.
Update 3: We've unlocked this thread and actually turned it into a real megathread - but discussion needs to stay respectful and on-topic. This is not an excuse to post politics - please stick to this particular story.
Update 4: Changed this messaging to a more neutral tone. The original messaging was more hostile than it needed to be, to discourage the spam we were receiving at the time. We'll try to do better in the future.
Update 5: I can't believe I have to say this, but there is no information to support today's rumor of a Russian ace called "The Black Bear", either. Information warfare is part of warfare, people.
Update 6: Congrats ya'll, you're famous.
*Rumor mill of social media;
When Ace Combat 8 showed up at the Game Awards, I was practically electric, like many of us were. Ace Combat 7 was/is probably one of my favorite games of the last few years, and since playing it in 2019, I've been inspired to get into a ton of other media. Most notably, Ace Combat inadvertently got me into mecha anime, something that I promise is relevant to the point of this post.
The point is that the Ace Combat 8 trailer gave us a lot to pick apart and think about with just over a minute of footage, and I have some thoughts that I really just want to get out in post form, even if this sinks to the bottom and gets no engagement, I really don't care, I just need to immortalize these thoughts somehow.
Endurance, and White Base
Ace Combat 8 will see us aboard the Endurance, one of the last (if not the last) functional aircraft carriers of the FCU. This ship is fleeing/combating an enemy invasion while also being full of refugees. This premise has me immediately excited, most notably because this sounds very familiar to the premise of the White Base in the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam.
The parallels between mecha anime, Ace Combat, and real life air forces have been evident to many of us for a while, but this time it just feels so much more deliberate. The only difference is that we don't start out with an experimental superweapon jet (though, rest assured, we will be fighting and flying some later, trust); instead, all Endurance has is Wings of Theve... or should I say Ghost of Kyiv?
"A mass delusion fabricated by the rumor mill of social media..."
At the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, combat footage started pouring in on social media. Footage had come out from previous and ongoing conflicts before, but the intensity of fighting in Ukraine, combined with how sudden the flashpoint was, resulted in greater interest than ever before on a single conflict. Even for people who weren't into LiveLeak tier stuff, it was hard to avoid footage completely. Unless, of course, you were on military aviation social media, in which case, footage of aerial combat over Kyiv was the shit.
And within hours of some of the most intense aerial combat footage coming out, rumors started to spread that the Ukrainian fighters seen were all just one pilot, a legend who was now being called the Ghost of Kyiv. Naturally, such a legend calls for legendary shitposts, and I distinctly recall multiple variations of footage of the Ghost of Kyiv with different Ace Combat tracks blaring. Just as quickly however, the rumors were debunked, and the legendary ace was credited as the many pilots of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Given the timeline of development, it's incredibly easy to imagine this event either inspiring or affirming the developers in their decision to focus on Wings of Theve in this story, and with the tagline for this game being to | RISE ABOVE | , I predict that we'll have to Rise Above the doubters of the world just as much as we'll have to rise above the Sotoan Aces...
Random Final Thoughts
That was the bulk of what I wanted to say. I originally had a third section planned dedicated to the first person cutscene style of storytelling, but after further thought, there isn't much else to talk about there besides me looking forward to seeing how they utilize it. I'm sure I'm far from the only person on this sub who has rewatched that trailer an unhealthy amount already, I especially doubt this is the first post to draw comparisons between AC8 and other media like this, but like I said, I just want to immortalize these thoughts I'm having now, so we can see how they develop as we get closer to the game's launch in 2026!
MiG-29 9-13 kit from GWH. Pretty simple kit to put together with little issue. Only difficult part was the decals provided for the camo pattern, which I found a real learning experience.
Recently twitter has exploded over the fighter pilot dubbed "The Ghost of Kiev." Alledgely downing 4-6 Russian jets with his out dated jet. He would also be the first flying ace since WW2. Although I want to believe it, because it sounds bad ass, it does seem like propaganda considering there are no actual reports confirming it. But then I wonder, does it matter if he's real or pointing out its propaganda? If this isn't real, is it morally bad for pushing Ukraine to fight on at the cost of more lives?