‘The Happiest Soul on the Wing’: Remembering a Fallen Ukrainian Pilot

“He was the happiest soul on the wing.” That is how a fellow aviator and friend of Captain Marat Mambetov described to me the heroic MiG-29 pilot who lost his life on Oct. 1 while flying a combat mission in defense of Ukraine.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. At just 25, Marat was a flight commander in Ukraine’s 40th “Ghost of Kyiv” Tactical Aviation Brigade. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, he was carrying out missile and bomb strikes against Russian occupation forces along a sector of the front when an enemy missile struck his aircraft. He ejected but did not survive. Those facts explain how Ukraine lost him. His friends’ recollections begin to explain whom Ukraine lost. “It did not matter how bad the day was or potentially dangerous the circumstances, he would say ‘I don’t f**ing worry. Let’s do that.’” Others described how he could be cheerful and full of life one moment, then serious and responsible the next when the situation required it. Marat’s death strikes a personal chord. Over the past year and a half, I have lost two close friends, Pavlo “Pasha” Ivanov and Maksym Ustymenko, both extraordinary pilots and defenders of their nation. Both were posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine and the Order of the Gold Star. I did not know Marat, but I have come to understand what the loss of a fallen aviator means to his fellow pilots, family and friends. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Claims Record Barrage on Russia With 1,750 Drones, 17 Flamingo Missiles The reported figures surpass the previous record for Ukrainian drone attacks and mark an unprecedented number of Flamingo missiles used in a single day. “Pilots never die. They fly higher to protect their family and the children below.” The death of a pilot brings deep, quiet grief to the aviation community. Security requires silence. There is little time to process the loss of a comrade. Work does not stop. One hour, a close friend goes down in the line of duty. The next, his fellow aviators are airborne, protecting children as they sleep. To those who know them, the psychological and emotional stamina this demands can seem superhuman. But they cannot fail. Too much is at stake. So they mount their birds, take to the skies and fight another day.Yes, Marat’s friends will “burn the piano” in his memory – a tradition adopted by Ukrainian pilots and associated with the RAF of World War II. It is a ceremonial reminder that this extraordinary cadre of men who defend the skies includes poet-warriors, steeped in tradition and willing to die for the innocent.Originally from Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Marat studied at Kharkiv National Air Force University. Friends credit his intense focus, hard work and devotion to his nation with helping him accomplish so much at such a young age.“Even though he was often the younger pilot, he would often take the lead on a mission,” a colleague of Marat’s explained to me.Every Ukrainian defender is special. Every one has a story. Every loss reaches a circle of family and friends, and the nation is diminished by every death. But the ranks of Ukraine’s elite fighter pilots are small. In this war, fighter jets are precious, but they can be replaced with the help of international friends. An elite Ukrainian fighter pilot cannot easily be replaced. Nor can we ever fully know how many lives a single pilot has protected through repeated missions to clear the skies of enemy threats.Marat’s friend explained it to me this way: “Pilots never die. They fly higher to protect their family and the children below.”The name Marat is sometimes translated as “one whose coming is hoped for.” It is a fitting name for the man who arrived just in time for Ukraine’s darkest hour and who left this world with an unblemished record of courage when it mattered most. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post. DW PhillipsDW Phillips is a filmmaker, attorney and journalist who is director for Ukraine Story, a foundation for documentary reporting. He covered the story of Ukrainian athletes from the Paris 2024 Olympics, and is presently working an episodic series for streaming, Ukraine Story Anthology, which presents the humanity and hope of the people of Ukraine in wartime, including the stories of war orphans, soldiers, religious leaders and everyday Ukrainians. DW has served as a presidential appointee, and specialized in constitutional and civil rights issues as an attorney. He lives in Texas, USA.