The second part of White 05 focuses on the history of MiG-29, s/n: 2960728125, from its delivery to the Soviet Air Force in 1989 to its service with the Ukrainian Air Force. Known as “Blue 20” and later “Blue 05,” the aircraft was repainted in the colors of the Ukrainian Falcons in 2011, becoming one of the so-called “Pseudo Falcons.” The article follows its service during the 2014 conflict in eastern Ukraine, its later reappearance as “White 05,” and the evidence that identifies the aircraft as the MiG-29 lost on 7 January 2023.
The Mikoyan MiG-29 was developed in response to the American F-16 Fighting Falcon, which emerged from the “Lightweight Fighter” program in the 1960s. The first production version of the MiG-29, known as the Izdeliye 9.12, entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983 and was named Fulcrum A by NATO. It was designed primarily as a short-range front-line fighter for the Soviet Air Force and carried limited internal fuel and basic avionics, optimized for operations close to its base. The 9.12 featured an advanced radar, an optical-electronic sighting system, and also a helmet-mounted sight which was the cutting-edge technology at the time.
The later Izdeliye 9.13 version, code named Fulcrum C by NATO, was developed in mid-1980s to address these limitations. It featured a distinctive enlarged dorsal spine to accommodate additional fuel and new electronic countermeasure equipment. The 9.13 also introduced improved avionics, updated radar with limited beyond-visual-range missile capability, and enhanced self-defense systems. In essence, the shift from 9.12 to 9.13 reflected the Soviet Air Force’s need for longer range, better survivability, and improved multirole capability without developing an entirely new aircraft, and the 9.13 became the most widely used MiG-29 version among many air forces for decades.
One of them was Ukrainian Air Force. When Ukraine declared independence on August 24, 1991, its newly formed air force inherited all Soviet MiG-29s stationed within its borders, as well as several airframes returned from unified Germany as part of Russia’s debt repayments. In total, Ukraine received 216 MiG-29s, including 155 Izdeliye 9.13 Fulcrum-Cs, most of them relatively new, built between 1988 and 1990.
“White 01” of the Soviet Air Force’s 92nd Fighter Aviation Regiment (92 IAP), based at Mukachevo Airbase in Ukraine in 1987. While it is not possible to be certain, as the factory serial number is not known to me, it may have been one of the airframes later transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force after the country gained independence in 1991. Photo: Alexander Kilchitsky.
Blue 20 to Blue 05 as a “Pseudo Falcon”
Among these ex-Soviet Fulcrums transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force was MiG-29 serial number 2960728125. It was an Izdeliye 9.13 that was delivered to the Soviet Air Force in October 1989. While its Soviet-era bort number remains unknown to me, its first Ukrainian designation was “Blue 20” when it joined its first Ukrainian unit 9th Tactical Aviation Brigade (9 BrTA) at Ozerne Airbase in Zhytomyr Oblast. Before Ukraine’s independence, Ozerne had been home to the 894th Fighter Aviation Regiment (894 IAP) of the Soviet Air Force, which flew MiG-23MLDs. This indicates that “Blue 20” was likely transferred from another Soviet unit, either elsewhere in Ukraine or from a base in East Germany.
According to Scramble Database, last record of “Blue 20” at Ozerne AB was made in February 2009. Sometime after that time, it was transferred to 114 BrTA at Ivano-Frankivsk Airbase, where it was painted in the Ukrainian Falcons color scheme and renumbered “Blue 05” in August 2011. The reason for painting the Blue 05 and several other MiG-29s into the colors of Ukrainian Falcons was a strange process.
The Ukrainian Falcons Українські Соколи were the aerobatic demonstration team of the Ukrainian Air Force, formed in the mid-1990s shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the team represented the new Ukraine’s effort to establish its own identity and pride in aviation, distinct from its Soviet past. However, due to financial constraints and limited resources in the early 2000s, the team’s activities were gradually reduced, and it was eventually disbanded in 2002. Despite its short-lived history, the Ukrainian Falcons remain an important chapter in Ukraine’s post-Soviet aviation legacy.
Seen here at Fairford, UK in 1997, the White 106 (c/n: 2960728120) was one of the six “original” MiG-29s of the Ukrainian Falcons Team. After the team was disbanded in 2002, it was stored at Kirovs’ke Airbase in Crimea. Sadly, it became one of the MiG-29s that were captured by the Russians after they annexed the peninsula in March 2014. It was later moved to Mikolayiv-Kulbakino Airbase in May 2014, after the Russians allowed the return on the MiG-29s to Ukraine.
Six years later, on April 17, 2008, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko proposed reviving the Ukrainian Falcons aerobatic team, and on January 10, 2009, he signed a decree directing the creation of a state program to restore the team as part of efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capability. In April 2009, three MiG-29s airframes, White 31 (c/n 2960731638) and White 33 (c/n 2960731642) from the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, and Blue 09 (c/n 2960721108) from the 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade, were repainted in the scheme resembling the original Ukrainian Falcons colors. In August 2009, these aircraft participated in the Independence Day military parade over Kyiv. Later, MiG-29UB Blue 91 (c/n: 50903017533) from the 40th Brigade was also repainted in a similar colors.
However, it was later revealed those MiG-29s had been painted into Falcons colors solely for ceremonial purposes and did not signify the actual restoration of the aerobatic team. They were flown by operational combat pilots that had no formation aerobatics experience, and after they attended ceremonies as single aircraft, all were returned to their original units. However, although no flight displays were conducted for Ukraine’s Independence Day after 2010, more aircraft received similar paint schemes in 2011. MiG-29 Blue 03 (c/n 2960729011) and Blue 02 (c/n 2960731641) from Vasylkiv, as well as MiG-29 Blue 05 (c/n 2960728125) from Ivano-Frankivsk were painted in team colors. Ukrainian crews nicknamed these aircraft “Pseudo Falcons” because, while they resembled the Ukrainian Falcons, they were not authentic team aircraft.
A photo of “Blue 05” (s/n 2960728125), taken a year after it was painted in the Ukrainian Falcons color scheme in 2011. It was one of the nine so-called “Pseudo Falcons” as referred to by the Ukrainian crews.
Sadly when the 2008 global economic crisis broke up, Ukraine was severely affected which had to send many of its MiG-29s into short-term storage. Some of the remaining aircraft were scheduled for refurbishment and modernization. While the “Blue 05” was not selected for modernization, it did undergo a major maintenance in November 2014.
Blue 05 became notable during the Crimean Peninsula conflict in 2014. In early April 2014, pro-Russian separatists seized government buildings and police stations in Slovyansk city in Donetsk Oblast and other towns in eastern Ukraine. In response, the Ukrainian government launched an “anti-terrorist operation” on April 15 to retake control. However, local militants and civilians blocked roads and railways, stopping Ukrainian forces. The next day, two fully armed Pseudo Falcons made several low level passes over the pro-Russian separatists blocking a railroad. According to some Ukrainian sources, one of those Pseudos were the Bue 05. Photos and videos of that low pass were widely circulated in various media outlets (https://youtu.be/ZokhRnJ3-EQ?si=X7oaEhs1cRiLEEem).
A fully armed MiG-29 in Ukrainian Falcons colors making a low pass over Slovyansk as a show of force to the Russia-backed separatists.
Sadly the “anti-terrorist” operation of the Ukrainian forces failed, and Slovyansk remained under separatist control until it was recaptured by Ukrainian troops in July 2014.
Several years after the low pass over Slovyansk, the Blue 05 reappeared in a video posted on the Instagram account of Ukrainian Air Force pilot Vadym Voroshylov—better known by his callsign “Karaya”—in March 2023, where it was seen bearing a new bort number: White 05. That also became the last known photo of the now ex-Blue 05. It was clear that the White 05 seen in Karaya’s video was formerly Blue 05, because the distinctive bird of prey emblem under the windshield —which set Blue 05 apart from all other Pseudos— was also visible on White 05. Also the parts recovered from the crash site confirmed that aircraft 2960728125 carried the White 05 designation at the time of its loss on 7 January 2023.
While it is not possible to obtain updated information from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, it is likely that only one Pseudo Falcon remains active as of November 2025, marking the end of one of the most beautiful paint schemes ever applied to a MiG-29.
The story of White 05 is more than just the history of a MiG-29 lost in the skies over Ukraine. It is also the story of how a handful of damaged aircraft parts, a handwritten number, old photographs, and months of research can come together to identify an aircraft whose serial number was initially unknown. What began with a skin section carrying the words “Українські Соколи” eventually led to the identification of MiG-29 s/n 2960728125, from its Soviet service and Ukrainian career as Blue 20 and Blue 05 to its final days as White 05. The surviving parts provided the final clues that connected the wreck to the aircraft documented in photographs years earlier.
Every part that is upcycled into tags has a story. Yet, in many cases, that story is never even investigated. FIGHTERTAGS’ research into White 05 may have been one of the first attempts to trace that story in such detail, and hopefully it will set an example for future releases.
“White 05”: The MiG-29 and a “Pseudo Falcon” – PART 2
The second part of White 05 focuses on the history of MiG-29, s/n: 2960728125, from its delivery to the Soviet Air Force in 1989 to its service with the Ukrainian Air Force. Known as “Blue 20” and later “Blue 05,” the aircraft was repainted in the colors of the Ukrainian Falcons in 2011, becoming one of the so-called “Pseudo Falcons.” The article follows its service during the 2014 conflict in eastern Ukraine, its later reappearance as “White 05,” and the evidence that identifies the aircraft as the MiG-29 lost on 7 January 2023.
The Mikoyan MiG-29 was developed in response to the American F-16 Fighting Falcon, which emerged from the “Lightweight Fighter” program in the 1960s. The first production version of the MiG-29, known as the Izdeliye 9.12, entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983 and was named Fulcrum A by NATO. It was designed primarily as a short-range front-line fighter for the Soviet Air Force and carried limited internal fuel and basic avionics, optimized for operations close to its base. The 9.12 featured an advanced radar, an optical-electronic sighting system, and also a helmet-mounted sight which was the cutting-edge technology at the time.
The later Izdeliye 9.13 version, code named Fulcrum C by NATO, was developed in mid-1980s to address these limitations. It featured a distinctive enlarged dorsal spine to accommodate additional fuel and new electronic countermeasure equipment. The 9.13 also introduced improved avionics, updated radar with limited beyond-visual-range missile capability, and enhanced self-defense systems. In essence, the shift from 9.12 to 9.13 reflected the Soviet Air Force’s need for longer range, better survivability, and improved multirole capability without developing an entirely new aircraft, and the 9.13 became the most widely used MiG-29 version among many air forces for decades.
One of them was Ukrainian Air Force. When Ukraine declared independence on August 24, 1991, its newly formed air force inherited all Soviet MiG-29s stationed within its borders, as well as several airframes returned from unified Germany as part of Russia’s debt repayments. In total, Ukraine received 216 MiG-29s, including 155 Izdeliye 9.13 Fulcrum-Cs, most of them relatively new, built between 1988 and 1990.
“White 01” of the Soviet Air Force’s 92nd Fighter Aviation Regiment (92 IAP), based at Mukachevo Airbase in Ukraine in 1987. While it is not possible to be certain, as the factory serial number is not known to me, it may have been one of the airframes later transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force after the country gained independence in 1991. Photo: Alexander Kilchitsky.
Blue 20 to Blue 05 as a “Pseudo Falcon”
Among these ex-Soviet Fulcrums transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force was MiG-29 serial number 2960728125. It was an Izdeliye 9.13 that was delivered to the Soviet Air Force in October 1989. While its Soviet-era bort number remains unknown to me, its first Ukrainian designation was “Blue 20” when it joined its first Ukrainian unit 9th Tactical Aviation Brigade (9 BrTA) at Ozerne Airbase in Zhytomyr Oblast. Before Ukraine’s independence, Ozerne had been home to the 894th Fighter Aviation Regiment (894 IAP) of the Soviet Air Force, which flew MiG-23MLDs. This indicates that “Blue 20” was likely transferred from another Soviet unit, either elsewhere in Ukraine or from a base in East Germany.
According to Scramble Database, last record of “Blue 20” at Ozerne AB was made in February 2009. Sometime after that time, it was transferred to 114 BrTA at Ivano-Frankivsk Airbase, where it was painted in the Ukrainian Falcons color scheme and renumbered “Blue 05” in August 2011. The reason for painting the Blue 05 and several other MiG-29s into the colors of Ukrainian Falcons was a strange process.
The Ukrainian Falcons Українські Соколи were the aerobatic demonstration team of the Ukrainian Air Force, formed in the mid-1990s shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the team represented the new Ukraine’s effort to establish its own identity and pride in aviation, distinct from its Soviet past. However, due to financial constraints and limited resources in the early 2000s, the team’s activities were gradually reduced, and it was eventually disbanded in 2002. Despite its short-lived history, the Ukrainian Falcons remain an important chapter in Ukraine’s post-Soviet aviation legacy.
Seen here at Fairford, UK in 1997, the White 106 (c/n: 2960728120) was one of the six “original” MiG-29s of the Ukrainian Falcons Team. After the team was disbanded in 2002, it was stored at Kirovs’ke Airbase in Crimea. Sadly, it became one of the MiG-29s that were captured by the Russians after they annexed the peninsula in March 2014. It was later moved to Mikolayiv-Kulbakino Airbase in May 2014, after the Russians allowed the return on the MiG-29s to Ukraine.
Six years later, on April 17, 2008, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko proposed reviving the Ukrainian Falcons aerobatic team, and on January 10, 2009, he signed a decree directing the creation of a state program to restore the team as part of efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capability. In April 2009, three MiG-29s airframes, White 31 (c/n 2960731638) and White 33 (c/n 2960731642) from the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, and Blue 09 (c/n 2960721108) from the 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade, were repainted in the scheme resembling the original Ukrainian Falcons colors. In August 2009, these aircraft participated in the Independence Day military parade over Kyiv. Later, MiG-29UB Blue 91 (c/n: 50903017533) from the 40th Brigade was also repainted in a similar colors.
However, it was later revealed those MiG-29s had been painted into Falcons colors solely for ceremonial purposes and did not signify the actual restoration of the aerobatic team. They were flown by operational combat pilots that had no formation aerobatics experience, and after they attended ceremonies as single aircraft, all were returned to their original units. However, although no flight displays were conducted for Ukraine’s Independence Day after 2010, more aircraft received similar paint schemes in 2011. MiG-29 Blue 03 (c/n 2960729011) and Blue 02 (c/n 2960731641) from Vasylkiv, as well as MiG-29 Blue 05 (c/n 2960728125) from Ivano-Frankivsk were painted in team colors. Ukrainian crews nicknamed these aircraft “Pseudo Falcons” because, while they resembled the Ukrainian Falcons, they were not authentic team aircraft.
A photo of “Blue 05” (s/n 2960728125), taken a year after it was painted in the Ukrainian Falcons color scheme in 2011. It was one of the nine so-called “Pseudo Falcons” as referred to by the Ukrainian crews.
Sadly when the 2008 global economic crisis broke up, Ukraine was severely affected which had to send many of its MiG-29s into short-term storage. Some of the remaining aircraft were scheduled for refurbishment and modernization. While the “Blue 05” was not selected for modernization, it did undergo a major maintenance in November 2014.
A fully armed MiG-29 in Ukrainian Falcons colors making a low pass over Slovyansk as a show of force to the Russia-backed separatists.
The story of White 05 is more than just the history of a MiG-29 lost in the skies over Ukraine. It is also the story of how a handful of damaged aircraft parts, a handwritten number, old photographs, and months of research can come together to identify an aircraft whose serial number was initially unknown. What began with a skin section carrying the words “Українські Соколи” eventually led to the identification of MiG-29 s/n 2960728125, from its Soviet service and Ukrainian career as Blue 20 and Blue 05 to its final days as White 05. The surviving parts provided the final clues that connected the wreck to the aircraft documented in photographs years earlier.
Every part that is upcycled into tags has a story. Yet, in many cases, that story is never even investigated. FIGHTERTAGS’ research into White 05 may have been one of the first attempts to trace that story in such detail, and hopefully it will set an example for future releases.