1993–2023
Andrii Pilshchykov
Fighter pilot, “Juice”
A boy who photographed planes as a teenager grew up to fly MiG-29s and defend the sky over Kyiv. Andrii Pilshchykov, call sign “Juice”, lobbied US senators to give Ukraine F-16s. Killed in 2023; Hero of Ukraine (posthumously).
Key accomplishments
- MiG-29 fighter pilot in the Ukrainian Air Force’s 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade
- Flew combat missions from March 2022, including over Kyiv (101 sorties by August 2023)
- In 2022 traveled to Washington with a delegation to persuade US senators to give Ukraine F-16s
- Hero of Ukraine (posthumously, 2024)
The boy who photographed planes
Andrii Pilshchykov was born in 1993 in Kharkiv and dreamed of flying from childhood. As a teenager he photographed aircraft and helped found the plane-spotting movement in his home city. To get into the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National University of the Air Force he first had to have his eyesight corrected. After graduating he flew MiG-29 fighters with the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, and in 2018, at the Clear Sky exercise, he got the call sign “Juice.”
He left the service, then came back
In 2021 Pilshchykov quit: he disliked the Soviet ways that lingered in the army, kept trying to change them and kept running into resistance from senior officers. But when the full-scale invasion began in 2022, he went back to his brigade. Between March 2022 and August 2023 “Juice” flew 101 combat sorties, including over Kyiv. The legend of the “Ghost of Kyiv” stands for his brigade’s pilots, and Andrii insisted the credit belonged to the whole unit.
Eight senators and the F-16
How do you talk America into giving Ukraine fighter jets? In 2022 Pilshchykov and his classmate and close friend Oleksii Mes, “Moonfish,” went to Washington and met eight US senators. He gave interviews and spoke publicly about why Ukraine needed modern Western aircraft, the F-16 among them. He also gave his own savings to buy helmets for his fellow pilots.
How he is remembered
On 25 August 2023 Andrii Pilshchykov was killed in the Zhytomyr region when two L-39 training and combat aircraft collided. He was 30. The pilots Viacheslav Minka and Serhii Prokazin were killed with him. Andrii was posthumously promoted to major, and in 2024 he was made a Hero of Ukraine. He is remembered as a pilot who defended his country both in the sky and with his voice.
