When I first saw this headline in the Metro I thought there’s absolutely no way it could be true, but apparently it is. A Ukrainian pensioner by the name of Valeriy Fedorovych decided on a whim to take a few shots at a Russian fighter jet as it flew over his home, then watched in amazement as it came crashing down to earth.
The Ukraine State Border Service has now handed Valeriy a medal for his unbelievable shot on the £74 million Su-34 enemy fighter, commending his ‘heroism’ and ‘assistance in the protection of the state border’.
A short clip was released featuring the pensioner walking through destroyed buildings in Chernihiv with a rifle over his shoulder as he discussed the toll the war has taken on his hometown:
In the video, Valeriy describes the moment he saw the aircraft flying overhead:
‘On the second lap, how did it go? I went “bang” with my stick [rifle]. And it was like “bang.” And it [the Russian jet] fell.’
Poetic. I’m still not convinced this isn’t a ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ type story that the Ukrainians have maybe put out there to big themselves up and make Putin look even more stupid. Could be that the fighter was shot down by someone else, and Valeriy just happened to be firing at the same time, and so it appeared to him like he did all the damage. I don’t want to take anything away from him if he did make the shot, but the chances would be like hitting the lottery. Imagine the fighter jet is flying at 1000mph, he would have to fire so far above and ahead of the target just for the bullets to arrive in the same vicinity as the jet. Not impossible, but unbelievably unlikely.
Still, it’s more fun to believe it’s true so let’s just roll with that. Go Valeriy Go!
For the Russian intelligence plot that failed after Ukrainians realised the pilot’s girlfriend was way too hot for him, click HERE.
