Interview extract with Vadym Vorochylov, famed UkAF 'drone-killer' ace of the 204th BrTA (Ukrainian AF Tactical Aviation Brigade). Vadym Oleksandrovych Voroshylov is a Ukrainian fighter pilot and 'Hero of Ukraine' after bringing down at least five Iranian Shahed-136 'suicide-drones' in early October 2022. He took his call sign in honour of JG 52 ace and the most successful fighter pilot all time Erich Hartmann..
Below; Maj. Vorochylov seeing in the New Year in front of MiG 29 'blue 43' of the 204th BrTA armed with R-73 and R-27 air-to-air missiles (AA-10 Alamo and AA-11 Archer)
(I): You are active on your Instagram page, you don’t hide your face, people in the streets recognise you and thank you. Do Russians send you threats?
(VV): Not at all. At all! I was very surprised by this. Maybe that’s because their leadership says we don’t have any aircraft and that they destroyed everything right away (smiles)? And they don’t want to say anything about Ukrainian pilots in their information space so that their citizens won’t be surprised?
Some of their media outlets said - I’ll quote them - "A Ukrainian Nazi pilot has been shot down." There was a short video where they mentioned my call sign and talked about Hartmann, who received the Iron Cross from Hitler.
(I): But the propagandists don’t mention that Hartmann was exonerated in the Russian Federation in 1997, and that they admitted unlawfully sentencing him to 10 years in the camps "for war crimes"...
(VV): Yes… The story of my call sign goes way back to 2014, when the Russians launched their propaganda machine and started calling Ukrainians "Nazis". Then my old Instagram account was hacked. I created a new one and was wondering what username to choose. I’m interested in world history and I knew about Hartmann. So I decided to sign it as Karaya. It was mostly a joke precisely because of the Russian propaganda, to make fun of them (laughs). And then it kind of stuck. Everyone knows that Hartmann was a genius pilot. He went through Stalin’s camps, then served in West Germany and even trained American pilots. He said in an interview in his old age that when he was young, he just wanted to fly and did not support the policy of his military and political leadership.
(I): By the way, when I hear the call sign Karaya, I think of it as being very similar to the Ukrainian words ‘kara’, ‘karaty’ [punishment; to punish - ed.] …
(VV): (Laughs). If you look at it like that, it makes more sense [‘Karaya’ is a German love song - ed.]. If you see parallels with Ukrainian, it sounds more relevant (smiles).
Full "Ukrainska Pravda" interview with Vadym Vorochylov here
(I): You are active on your Instagram page, you don’t hide your face, people in the streets recognise you and thank you. Do Russians send you threats?
(VV): Not at all. At all! I was very surprised by this. Maybe that’s because their leadership says we don’t have any aircraft and that they destroyed everything right away (smiles)? And they don’t want to say anything about Ukrainian pilots in their information space so that their citizens won’t be surprised?
Some of their media outlets said - I’ll quote them - "A Ukrainian Nazi pilot has been shot down." There was a short video where they mentioned my call sign and talked about Hartmann, who received the Iron Cross from Hitler.
(I): But the propagandists don’t mention that Hartmann was exonerated in the Russian Federation in 1997, and that they admitted unlawfully sentencing him to 10 years in the camps "for war crimes"...
(VV): Yes… The story of my call sign goes way back to 2014, when the Russians launched their propaganda machine and started calling Ukrainians "Nazis". Then my old Instagram account was hacked. I created a new one and was wondering what username to choose. I’m interested in world history and I knew about Hartmann. So I decided to sign it as Karaya. It was mostly a joke precisely because of the Russian propaganda, to make fun of them (laughs). And then it kind of stuck. Everyone knows that Hartmann was a genius pilot. He went through Stalin’s camps, then served in West Germany and even trained American pilots. He said in an interview in his old age that when he was young, he just wanted to fly and did not support the policy of his military and political leadership.
(I): By the way, when I hear the call sign Karaya, I think of it as being very similar to the Ukrainian words ‘kara’, ‘karaty’ [punishment; to punish - ed.] …
(VV): (Laughs). If you look at it like that, it makes more sense [‘Karaya’ is a German love song - ed.]. If you see parallels with Ukrainian, it sounds more relevant (smiles).
More on Vorochylov on my 'Jet and Prop' blog here
And see the latest issue of Avions magazine issue no. 254 here
Christophe Cony article "Vadym Vorochylov, un curieux héros ukrainien"
Full "Ukrainska Pravda" interview with Vadym Vorochylov here