Every aircraft part carries a story waiting to be told. Sometimes it is about the pilot, sometimes about the aircraft’s service, and occasionally, about a mystery that takes months to uncover. This is one of those stories. In early 2024, I came across parts from the wreck of an unidentified MiG-29 painted in the colors of the legendary Ukrainian Falcons. Yet as I dug deeper, I realized it was far more than just another aircraft lost in the war. It marked the beginning of a long investigation that ultimately led me to uncover the identity of “White 05” from its shattered remains.
When you run a tag company, you are constantly searching for new parts from different types of aircraft. I began doing this search before I started running FIGHTERTAGS.
In February 2024, just a few months before I made my debut release, the F-104 Starfighter, I came across a person in Ukraine named Maksym, who had recovered parts of a crashed Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29. It was an exciting discovery for two reasons. First, no company had yet released a MiG-29 tag at that time. Second, all previously released aircraft from Ukraine had been Russian Air Force fighters shot down during the invasion. Therefore, introducing an aircraft from the Ukrainian side would be something entirely new.
However, I later learned that this find was even more significant. According to Maksym, the MiG-29 in question was one of the aircraft flown by the Ukrainian Air Force aerobatic team, the Ukrainian Falcons. He made this claim because one of the parts he had was a large fuselage skin section with “Українські Соколи” (Ukrainian Falcons) written beneath the cockpit. At first glance, his claim seemed valid—and that was absolutely incredible. Such a part is something you come across once in a lifetime. So, I went ahead and purchased it as my first piece.
Crushed remains of the skin section located beneath the cockpit, where part of the Ukrainian Falcons name in Ukrainian, ‘Українські Соколи,’ is still visible. This particular section was among the parts I received and later turned into tags.
In the meantime, Maksym sent me photos of the wreckage taken at the crash site, as well as photos of other recovered parts. He had dozens of pieces mostly yellow, blue and white colors. These wreck photos soon became a kind of parts catalog for me. I was going through each image, picked out the interesting pieces, and asked Maksym if they were available. While I managed to obtain some, others had already been sold. Maksym mentioned that he also had buyers in the United States and China.
The Research
As soon as I ordered the first skin section, I began researching the history of that aircraft. Though I was not a tag producer yet, I knew that I had to provide at least the serial number of that MiG-29s to my future customers. Unfortunately, that serial number was unknown, which meant I had to start from scratch. So, I started to collect everything I could find about that loss. Maksym said that he recovered the parts near a small village named Ostrivske in Donetsk, and provided a link to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN) showing the loss of a MiG-29 of unknown serial, reportedly shot down by a Ukrainian Osa surface-to-air missile system—essentially friendly fire—near Ostrivske on 7 January 2023. The pilot’s fate was unknown. Another source, Military Watch, compiled by researcher Marcin Rogowski, had the same information.
Though I was not a tag producer yet, I knew that I had to provide at least the serial number of that MiG-29s to my future customers.
Although both the ASN and Military Watch databases have since been updated with nearly complete details, back in February 2024 the only information available about this loss was the date, location, and cause of the incident, along with a few aerial photos of the wreck.
I did, however, had one clue that could lead me to the aircraft’s identity. On the back side of the skin section I purchased, there was a handwritten four-digit number: “4718”. Experienced collectors know that such numbers are often related to the aircraft’s identity or serial number. I initially assumed that 4718 represented the last four digits of the MiG-29’s factory serial number. Yet, when I checked Scramble Magazine’s 2021 database of Ukrainian MiG-29s, none of the serials ended with that number.
The handwritten number “4718” on the back of a skin section was the only clue that initiated the research to reveal the MiG-29’s identity.
So, I reached out to my Ukrainian friend Evgeny, an aviation historian in Kyiv, to ask if he could help. Though Evgeny was specialized on WWII era aviation, he was still following the war in detail and had firsthand information on the recent developments. Though he did not have much detail, he stated that, in addition to factory serial numbers, MiG-29s had another identifier called a “Line Number,” and the 4718 was likely related to it. The term “Line Number” was new to me, and I initially thought it was a system used by the Ukrainian Air Force. While Evgeny did not have a complete list of MiG-29s with their line numbers, he provided two examples: 2960535182/4701 and 2960535409/4715 which were from Hungarian Air Force and Slovak Air Force respectively. These confirmed that the system was not unique to Ukraine.
Returning to the Scramble database, I noticed that it listed Ukrainian MiG-29s in order of factory serial numbers and included some line numbers. While 4718 was missing, the preceding line number 4717 corresponded to serial 2960728120. Interestingly, the next aircraft in the list s/n: 2960728125 was painted in the Ukrainian Falcons scheme and carried the bort number “Blue 05”.
Further down the database, I saw that the sixth aircraft after 2960728120 (4717) had the line number 4723. Initially, this made me think that the Ukrainian Air Force assigned line numbers sequentially according to factory serials. Since Ukraine inherited its MiG-29s from the Soviet Air Force, they came from different production blocks and did not follow sequential serial numbering. Perhaps the line number system had been introduced to bring some order to this. But after examining all entries, I found several inconsistencies between serial numbers and line numbers. Thus, while I had a lead, it was still not possible to confirm that 4718 belonged to “Blue 05.”
Meanwhile, I was collecting as much information as possible from both Ukrainian and Russian sources, particularly about the Ukrainian Falcons. There is no need to go into their entire history of the Ukrainian Falcons here as it is well documented on Wikipedia. However it is worth noting that the original team’s aircraft were either lost or upgraded in the 2010s and repainted in combat colors. After the official disbandment of the team in 2002, there was an attempt to reactivate it in 2008 and a total of nine MiG-29s were painted in a color scheme very similar to Ukrainian Falcons. However, none of these aircraft formed a reactivated team. They remained in their original units and flown by pilots without any aerobatic training. Ukrainian crews nicknamed these aircraft “Pseudo Falcons” because, while they resembled the Ukrainian Falcons, they were not authentic team aircraft.
The aircraft in question: Blue 05 (s/n 2960728125)! Can it be the MiG-29 with the line number “4718”? The Blue 05 was one of the so-called “Pseudo Falcons,” as referred to by the Ukrainian crews. Photo: Pavel Kapustin
The parts I was buying from Maksym had to belong to one of these nine aircraft. From the wreck photos, I confirmed it was a single-seat MiG-29, which ruled out “Blue 91” (the twin-seat UB variant), leaving eight possibilities. Cross-referencing with the Scramble database, I eliminated “Blue 31,” “Blue 33,” “Blue 02,” and “Blue 55,” all of which had been repainted in combat schemes in 2016–2017. My friend Evgeny confirmed that “Blue 03” was lost with its pilot near Kyiv on the very first day of the Russian Invasion, 24 February 2022, which was also confirmed by ASN. That left three candidates: “Blue 05”, “Blue 09” and “Blue 54.”
While studying more wreck photos, I noticed a part which had the aircraft’s bort number. The digits were difficult to read because the skin was badly deformed. The problem was that the number on the part was painted in white. According to the Scramble Database compiled in 2020, however, all “Pseudo Falcons” had their bort numbers painted in blue, not white! When I asked Maksym about that section, he told me he had left it at the crash site, which was disappointing, as it could have been the key to confirming the aircraft’s identity.
Several weeks later, however, Maksym offered me another section that included part of the bort number. Despite heavy damage, the top of the number was visible: “05”. That was it—the aircraft was “White 05,” formerly “Blue 05” (s/n 2960728125). My assumption about the line number 4718 was correct.
The definitive evidence that confirmed the MiG-29’s identity after months of research. This part of the air intake area shows the upper section of the bort number “White 05.” Although repainted in white, traces of the original blue from its earlier “Blue 05” number remains visible, particularly on the “0.” The condition of the part also suggests that the aircraft crashed following a flat spin.
The last record of The MiG-29, s/n: 2960728125 wearing Blue 05 bort number was from August 2015 according to the Scramble Database. It is apparent that the Blue 05 was renumbered as White 05 sometime later. The only visual I was able to find of this aircraft as White 05 was on a video I found on the Instagram account of Ukrainian Air Force pilot Vadym Voroshylov—better known by his callsign “Karaya”. In his video from March 2023, the “Blue 05” was seen bearing a new bort number, White 05.
How was I certain that Blue 05 and White 05 were the same aircraft? In addition to the traces of blue paint visible beneath the white layer on the air intake part, there was another clue. Blue 05 featured a distinctive emblem —a bird of prey— painted below the left side of its windshield. It was the only “Pseudo Falcon” to carry this marking, and interestingly, the wing of the same bird could also be seen in Karaya’s video.
Screenshot from Karaya’s video showing White 05. The tip of the wing from the distinctive bird of prey emblem visible beneath the windshield confirms that the aircraft was previously numbered Blue 05. Photo: Vadym “Karaya” Voroshylov
It took me several months of research to identify the serial number of White 05. Today, I still ask myself whether it was worth it or not. While I do not know the answer, I know one thing for sure that I could not have offered those tags without knowing that number. And this is what really matters to me.
“White 05”: Revealing the mystery behind a MiG-29 wreck in Ukraine – PART 1
Every aircraft part carries a story waiting to be told. Sometimes it is about the pilot, sometimes about the aircraft’s service, and occasionally, about a mystery that takes months to uncover. This is one of those stories. In early 2024, I came across parts from the wreck of an unidentified MiG-29 painted in the colors of the legendary Ukrainian Falcons. Yet as I dug deeper, I realized it was far more than just another aircraft lost in the war. It marked the beginning of a long investigation that ultimately led me to uncover the identity of “White 05” from its shattered remains.
When you run a tag company, you are constantly searching for new parts from different types of aircraft. I began doing this search before I started running FIGHTERTAGS.
In February 2024, just a few months before I made my debut release, the F-104 Starfighter, I came across a person in Ukraine named Maksym, who had recovered parts of a crashed Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29. It was an exciting discovery for two reasons. First, no company had yet released a MiG-29 tag at that time. Second, all previously released aircraft from Ukraine had been Russian Air Force fighters shot down during the invasion. Therefore, introducing an aircraft from the Ukrainian side would be something entirely new.
However, I later learned that this find was even more significant. According to Maksym, the MiG-29 in question was one of the aircraft flown by the Ukrainian Air Force aerobatic team, the Ukrainian Falcons. He made this claim because one of the parts he had was a large fuselage skin section with “Українські Соколи” (Ukrainian Falcons) written beneath the cockpit. At first glance, his claim seemed valid—and that was absolutely incredible. Such a part is something you come across once in a lifetime. So, I went ahead and purchased it as my first piece.
Crushed remains of the skin section located beneath the cockpit, where part of the Ukrainian Falcons name in Ukrainian, ‘Українські Соколи,’ is still visible. This particular section was among the parts I received and later turned into tags.
In the meantime, Maksym sent me photos of the wreckage taken at the crash site, as well as photos of other recovered parts. He had dozens of pieces mostly yellow, blue and white colors. These wreck photos soon became a kind of parts catalog for me. I was going through each image, picked out the interesting pieces, and asked Maksym if they were available. While I managed to obtain some, others had already been sold. Maksym mentioned that he also had buyers in the United States and China.
The Research
As soon as I ordered the first skin section, I began researching the history of that aircraft. Though I was not a tag producer yet, I knew that I had to provide at least the serial number of that MiG-29s to my future customers. Unfortunately, that serial number was unknown, which meant I had to start from scratch. So, I started to collect everything I could find about that loss. Maksym said that he recovered the parts near a small village named Ostrivske in Donetsk, and provided a link to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN) showing the loss of a MiG-29 of unknown serial, reportedly shot down by a Ukrainian Osa surface-to-air missile system—essentially friendly fire—near Ostrivske on 7 January 2023. The pilot’s fate was unknown. Another source, Military Watch, compiled by researcher Marcin Rogowski, had the same information.
Although both the ASN and Military Watch databases have since been updated with nearly complete details, back in February 2024 the only information available about this loss was the date, location, and cause of the incident, along with a few aerial photos of the wreck.
I did, however, had one clue that could lead me to the aircraft’s identity. On the back side of the skin section I purchased, there was a handwritten four-digit number: “4718”. Experienced collectors know that such numbers are often related to the aircraft’s identity or serial number. I initially assumed that 4718 represented the last four digits of the MiG-29’s factory serial number. Yet, when I checked Scramble Magazine’s 2021 database of Ukrainian MiG-29s, none of the serials ended with that number.
The handwritten number “4718” on the back of a skin section was the only clue that initiated the research to reveal the MiG-29’s identity.
So, I reached out to my Ukrainian friend Evgeny, an aviation historian in Kyiv, to ask if he could help. Though Evgeny was specialized on WWII era aviation, he was still following the war in detail and had firsthand information on the recent developments. Though he did not have much detail, he stated that, in addition to factory serial numbers, MiG-29s had another identifier called a “Line Number,” and the 4718 was likely related to it. The term “Line Number” was new to me, and I initially thought it was a system used by the Ukrainian Air Force. While Evgeny did not have a complete list of MiG-29s with their line numbers, he provided two examples: 2960535182/4701 and 2960535409/4715 which were from Hungarian Air Force and Slovak Air Force respectively. These confirmed that the system was not unique to Ukraine.
Returning to the Scramble database, I noticed that it listed Ukrainian MiG-29s in order of factory serial numbers and included some line numbers. While 4718 was missing, the preceding line number 4717 corresponded to serial 2960728120. Interestingly, the next aircraft in the list s/n: 2960728125 was painted in the Ukrainian Falcons scheme and carried the bort number “Blue 05”.
Further down the database, I saw that the sixth aircraft after 2960728120 (4717) had the line number 4723. Initially, this made me think that the Ukrainian Air Force assigned line numbers sequentially according to factory serials. Since Ukraine inherited its MiG-29s from the Soviet Air Force, they came from different production blocks and did not follow sequential serial numbering. Perhaps the line number system had been introduced to bring some order to this. But after examining all entries, I found several inconsistencies between serial numbers and line numbers. Thus, while I had a lead, it was still not possible to confirm that 4718 belonged to “Blue 05.”
Meanwhile, I was collecting as much information as possible from both Ukrainian and Russian sources, particularly about the Ukrainian Falcons. There is no need to go into their entire history of the Ukrainian Falcons here as it is well documented on Wikipedia. However it is worth noting that the original team’s aircraft were either lost or upgraded in the 2010s and repainted in combat colors. After the official disbandment of the team in 2002, there was an attempt to reactivate it in 2008 and a total of nine MiG-29s were painted in a color scheme very similar to Ukrainian Falcons. However, none of these aircraft formed a reactivated team. They remained in their original units and flown by pilots without any aerobatic training. Ukrainian crews nicknamed these aircraft “Pseudo Falcons” because, while they resembled the Ukrainian Falcons, they were not authentic team aircraft.
The aircraft in question: Blue 05 (s/n 2960728125)! Can it be the MiG-29 with the line number “4718”? The Blue 05 was one of the so-called “Pseudo Falcons,” as referred to by the Ukrainian crews. Photo: Pavel Kapustin
The parts I was buying from Maksym had to belong to one of these nine aircraft. From the wreck photos, I confirmed it was a single-seat MiG-29, which ruled out “Blue 91” (the twin-seat UB variant), leaving eight possibilities. Cross-referencing with the Scramble database, I eliminated “Blue 31,” “Blue 33,” “Blue 02,” and “Blue 55,” all of which had been repainted in combat schemes in 2016–2017. My friend Evgeny confirmed that “Blue 03” was lost with its pilot near Kyiv on the very first day of the Russian Invasion, 24 February 2022, which was also confirmed by ASN. That left three candidates: “Blue 05”, “Blue 09” and “Blue 54.”
While studying more wreck photos, I noticed a part which had the aircraft’s bort number. The digits were difficult to read because the skin was badly deformed. The problem was that the number on the part was painted in white. According to the Scramble Database compiled in 2020, however, all “Pseudo Falcons” had their bort numbers painted in blue, not white! When I asked Maksym about that section, he told me he had left it at the crash site, which was disappointing, as it could have been the key to confirming the aircraft’s identity.
Several weeks later, however, Maksym offered me another section that included part of the bort number. Despite heavy damage, the top of the number was visible: “05”. That was it—the aircraft was “White 05,” formerly “Blue 05” (s/n 2960728125). My assumption about the line number 4718 was correct.
The definitive evidence that confirmed the MiG-29’s identity after months of research. This part of the air intake area shows the upper section of the bort number “White 05.” Although repainted in white, traces of the original blue from its earlier “Blue 05” number remains visible, particularly on the “0.” The condition of the part also suggests that the aircraft crashed following a flat spin.
The last record of The MiG-29, s/n: 2960728125 wearing Blue 05 bort number was from August 2015 according to the Scramble Database. It is apparent that the Blue 05 was renumbered as White 05 sometime later. The only visual I was able to find of this aircraft as White 05 was on a video I found on the Instagram account of Ukrainian Air Force pilot Vadym Voroshylov—better known by his callsign “Karaya”. In his video from March 2023, the “Blue 05” was seen bearing a new bort number, White 05.
How was I certain that Blue 05 and White 05 were the same aircraft? In addition to the traces of blue paint visible beneath the white layer on the air intake part, there was another clue. Blue 05 featured a distinctive emblem —a bird of prey— painted below the left side of its windshield. It was the only “Pseudo Falcon” to carry this marking, and interestingly, the wing of the same bird could also be seen in Karaya’s video.
Screenshot from Karaya’s video showing White 05. The tip of the wing from the distinctive bird of prey emblem visible beneath the windshield confirms that the aircraft was previously numbered Blue 05. Photo: Vadym “Karaya” Voroshylov
It took me several months of research to identify the serial number of White 05. Today, I still ask myself whether it was worth it or not. While I do not know the answer, I know one thing for sure that I could not have offered those tags without knowing that number. And this is what really matters to me.