He Fought to the Bitter End - Roman Filipov Tried to Save Plane, Took His Own Life Instead of Prison
Today the details of the last battle of the Hero of Russia Roman Filipov in Syria have been shared by the pilot's partner who flew the second assault aircraft. Despite an order to leave, he couldn't abandon his commander and battled the terrorists to the last. Tomorrow, Voronezh will pay its final respects.
Alexander Revunov has the details.
The Su-25 was patrolling the Idlib de-escalation zone. This radio communication recording is the chronicle of the last flight of Major Filipov.
The pilot of the trail aircraft: "He didn't falter when I warned him: "You're being fired at, leave, pitch, pitch and dodge!"
The RPG rocket fired by the terrorists hit the engine of the primary aircraft. The ace pilot tried to remain in the air to the last.
Primary aircraft command pilot: "I was hit. Hard. The right one's on fire. Going south. The left one's stopping. Call the SAR".
The Major catapulted when the whole aircraft was on fire. On the ground, he single-handedly battled the militants against heavy odds. Luring them close enough, he blew himself up with a grenade. Roman Filipov never surrendered.