Pilot with call sign Karaya becomes Hero of Ukraine for preventing damaged plane hitting city
In October, Karaya managed to fly his badly damaged aircraft away from the city of Vinnytsia and successfully ejected from the warplane before it crashed.
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"(This title is awarded) for personal courage and heroism displayed in the protection of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, (and) selfless service to the Ukrainian people," the text of the decree reads.
The title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star was also awarded to four other Ukrainian servicemen: Colonel Oleksiy Maistrenko, Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Poteshkin, Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Vesnin, Colonel Mykola Chumak, the General Staff reported.
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On Oct. 12 Karaya shot down five enemy drones and two cruise missiles. During his combat mission, his MiG-29 aircraft was damaged by debris. As the plane began to lose altitude, he flew it away from the city of Vinnytsia and successfully ejected.
On the same day, the Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk initiated a petition to award the pilot the distinguished title of Hero of Ukraine.
A picture of the heroic pilot, his face covered in blood after his ejection from his doomed aircraft, has been circulating on social media.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
