Death Before Dishonor: "Hero of Russia" Pilot Pulls Pin on Grenade, Takes Out Jihadis With Him
The pilot of the Su-25 shot down in Syria posthumously received the title "Hero of Russia". The Commander of the VKS called his death a heavy loss for the Russian aviation. The Kremlin has already expressed its condolences.
Major Alexander Filipov was only 33 years old. He was one of the most skilled aces in the country. He joined the aviation after his father who was also a combat pilot and carried out dozens of complicated tasks. What was the Syrian hero like?
Dmitry Petrov with the details.
He took the fight and fired back to the last bullet. And when the militants came close to the seriously wounded hero expecting to take him alive Roman clenched a grenade and jerked the pin. For bravery and heroism, Major Roman Filipov is put forward for the title of the Hero of Russia.
Sergey Surovikin, Commander of the VKS: "His death is a heavy loss for the Aerospace Forces and all those for whom he was a real combat companion mentor and role model. I express my deep condolences to his parents family, and friends. We will provide you with all the necessary help and support".
It was February 3 Roman was performing another combat mission patrolling the eastern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone to control the ceasefire. The militants shot his airplane with an RPG. Roman managed to report this to the command. Only when it became clear that the aircraft couldn't be saved the pilot decided to catapult. All this happened in the vicinity of the village of Tell Debes. Several militant groups immediately rushed to the landing site. Roman was firing back. But Stechkin pistol is not the right weapon to hold off 20 terrorists armed with assault rifles. Besides, Roman was seriously injured.
Two groups have taken responsibility for the incident: Hayet Tahrir ash-Sham (the former Djebhat an Nusra, banned in Russia) and Jashan Al-Nasr which is part of the Syrian Free Army. One of the main questions: why do the fighters in the de-escalation zone carry RPGs? Who supplies them with weapons?
But the main thing now is to return the body of the deceased pilot. The Russian Defence Ministry, together with the Turkish observers is working out all options.
Roman Filipov was born in Vladivostok. He received his secondary education in Voronezh where he studied at the school №85. Teachers remember him well.
Lyudmila Lazareva, Roman's form teacher: "He always said he wanted to be a pilot. After graduating, he immediately joined a military school. I'm shocked that the kid died. He was our kid, we loved him so much".
Roman Filipov graduated from Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School. He was always characterized as a promising, skillful, and decisive first-class attack aircraft pilot. He was respected in his air regiment. He served in the Far East, where he held all positions from senior pilot to deputy commander of the squadron. In 2013, Captain Filipov won the all-army Aviadarts contest. His record includes several trips to Syria.
The administration of Roman's school in Voronezh asked to adopt the name of the hero of Russia Roman Filipov. And the residents of Vladivostok want to call one of the streets after the hero.
Dmitry Petrov, Svetlana Neklyudova Vesti.