Prominent 24-year-old pilot killed on combat mission in Donbas

The 299th tactical aviation brigade, named after Lieutenant General Vasyl Nikiforov, announced on Jan. 30 that it had lost one of its best officers, 24-year-old Major Danylo Murashko.

The pilot was killed while on a combat mission in the east of Ukraine on Jan. 27. His plane was shot down by a Russian fighter.

According to the brigade, Murashko tried to divert his aircraft so that it didn't fall on residential buildings in the town of Shabelkivka, Donetsk Oblast. The effort cost him time and made him fly lower, which is why he could not eject safely in the end. Murashko "died like a hero," the brigade said.

According to the brigade, Murashko went on 141 sorties since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24. He destroyed about 70 Russian armored vehicles, more than 80 cars, and about 30 fuel tanks, and killed about 600 Russian soldiers.

Murashko was awarded the title of the Hero of Ukraine posthumously.

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The Kyiv Independent