A Ukrainian pensioner who shot down an $85 million Russian fighter jet has been decorated.

KIEV.- A Ukrainian pensioner was decorated this week A Russian Su-34 fighter jet worth $85 million was shot downAccording to the report of the State Border Service of Ukraine.

In March of this year, a few weeks after the start of the war, Valery Fedorovich opened fire When the enemy plane took off ChernikovA A historical city in the north of Ukraine Located on the banks of the Desna River, the government agency explained.

Officials said He single-handedly shot down an advanced attack aircraft Y Two-seat heavy long-range fighter-bomberA twin-engine design, manufactured by the Russian state-owned company Sukhoi.

Although Fedorovich did not appear in the video, images circulating on social networks showed how the plane fell to the ground. Many users questioned the authenticity of the exploit and compared it The Legend of the “Ghost of Kew”.

This Monday, the State Border Service paid tribute and commended the man For his “heroism” and he was awarded a medal, And praised him “Help protect state borders”.

Images shared by the agency show Fedorovich walking with a gun slung over his shoulder through a city largely destroyed by Russian bombing.

Fedorovich salvaged some of the wreckage from the plane and kept it in his garage.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine took a heavy toll on Chernykov, located about 140 kilometers from the capital city of Kiev. Human Rights Watch said in June that Russian troops had killed and wounded many civilians Eight attacks in the city in early MarchShortly after the war began.

“In March, Russian forces repeatedly attacked populated areas in Chernihiv from the ground and from the air, with apparent disregard for civilian casualties,” he told the Spanish newspaper. ABC Belkis Ville, senior crisis and conflict analyst at Human Rights Watch. “Casualties have increased as Ukrainian forces have failed in some areas to clear civilians, but the attacker still needs to distinguish between civilians and combatants.”

Fedorovich was not the first Ukrainian citizen to boast of destroying Russian military equipment. In February, 64-year-old Valentin Titkovsky destroyed a Russian gas tank with a grenade.

A nickname “Wrestling Grandpa”Ditkowski said Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty On February 27, he was in Bucha in the Ukrainian region of Kyiv when he saw the approach of Russian armed forces and decided to act.

AP and ANSA agencies