More Ukrainian MiG-29s spotted in black ‘Ghosts’ colour scheme.

While the new Ukrainian Air Force F-16s and Mirage 2000s have tended to ‘hog the limelight’ the Mikoyan MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’ and Sukhoi Su-27 ‘Flanker’ continue to form the backbone of Ukraine’s combat air element, albeit using a range of Western weapons, including GBU-31/32 JDAM, GBU-39 SDB and French AASM Hammer guided bombs and AGM-88 HARM anti radiation missiles. Because Russia also uses variants of the ‘Fulcrum’ and ‘Flanker’, the Ukrainian fighters tend to have large blue and yellow recognition markings, often extending over the wing leading edge, in an effort to avoid fratricide (‘blue on blue’ kills).

In early August 2024, the Ukrainian 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade ‘Ghosts’ at Vasyl’kiv, southwest of Kiev, introduced a sinister almost overall black air superiority colour scheme, with the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag on the wings and fuselage. This so-called ‘black Ghosts’ colour scheme has now spread to the MiG-29s of the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade at Luts’k North, north east of Lviv and close to the borders with Poland and Belarus.

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