Ukraine posthumously awards Hero of Ukraine title to MiG-29 pilot Marat Mambetov
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine to MiG-29 pilot Marat Mambetov, who was killed during a combat mission on Oct. 1 after his fighter jet was hit by a Russian missile.
Mambetov, a major and flight commander with Ukraine’s 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, was awarded the title “for personal courage and heroism” in defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a presidential decree published on Oct. 6.
Mambetov was conducting missile and bomb strikes against Russian forces when his MiG-29 was hit. He ejected from the aircraft but did not survive, the Air Force said at the time.
The 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” brigade, was among the units that defended the skies over the Ukrainian capital during the opening phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion.