Roman Nikolayevich Filipov (russian: Рома́н Никола́евич Фили́пов; born August 13, 1984 – died February 3, 2018) was a Russian military pilot who killed himself in a

last stand A last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are defending a tacti ...

to avoid being captured after being wounded by militants when his Su-25SM jet was shot down in

Idlib Province Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Ham ...

, Syria, on February 3rd, 2018. Filipov was posthumously awarded the honor of the

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation (russian: Герой Российской Федерации, Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially Hero of Russia (russian: link=no, Герой России, Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title ...

Biography

Roman Filipov was born in

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

into the family of a military pilot and graduated from school No. 85 in Voronezh in 2001.«Мечтал стать летчиком»: каким был погибший в Сирии Роман Филиппов
// ИА

REGNUM Regnum may refer to: * Latin for kingdom or dominion, see realm * ''Regnum'', Latin word for Kingdom (biology) * REGNUM News Agency, a Russian news agency * ''Champions of Regnum'', a computer game * An online database for PhyloCode The ''Internat ...

, 05.02.2018Сушинова Я
Минобороны рассказало об обстоятельствах гибели пилота Су-25 в Сирии
// Аргументы и факты, 05.02.2018 Upon completing the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School, he was posted at the air base in the village of

Chernigovka Chernigovka (russian: Черниговка) is the name of several rural localities in Russia: * Chernigovka, Arkharinsky District, Amur Oblast, a '' selo'' in Chernigovsky Rural Settlement of Arkharinsky District of Amur Oblast * Chernigovka, Svo ...

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...

, ( north of

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

) in the Russian Far East. In the summer of 2017, he was stationed in

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. On February 3, 2018, during the Syrian Civil War, Filipov was flying a Sukhoi Su-25 accompanied by another Su-25 at an altitude of about on a routine patrol mission over the province of Idlib. Uploaded videos showed the jet was part of a two-ship formation flying at low-to-medium altitude, with the downed aircraft separating and diving to perform a rocket attack. While pulling up after deploying air to ground rockets without deploying defensive flares, the Su-25 was hit by a missile. He was downed by militants over the province of Idlib, near the town of

Maarrat al-Nu'man , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +3 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +2 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info = BSk , coordinates= , e ...

( north of the city of Hama), or the town of Saraqib, according to other sources, presumably by a shoulder launched surface to air missile. Responsibility was claimed by

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

(formerly known as

Jabhat Al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

) and

Jaysh al-Nasr The Army of Victory ( ar, ; Jaysh al-Nasr) is an armed opposition faction participating in the Syrian Civil War. Founded in August 2015 as a joint operations room of 16 member groups, three of the groups later fully merged into Jaysh al-Nasr ...

, which is affiliated with the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...

. Filipov survived the crash and was last seen on live footage being surrounded by militants and committing suicide with a grenade to avoid capture. On the same day, Russian forces retaliated by firing

Kalibr The 3M-54 Kalibr, (Калибр, caliber), also referred to it as 3M54-1 Kalibr, 3M14 Biryuza (Бирюза, turquoise), ( NATO reporting name SS-N-27 Sizzler and SS-N-30A) is a family of Russian cruise missiles developed by the Novator Design B ...

missiles targeting rebel positions in

Idlib province Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Ham ...

responsible for the downing, killing at least 30 rebel fighters. Filipov's body was repatriated to Russia on February 6th, 2018 where he was posthumously awarded the title of

via

presidential decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used f ...

.
Major Roman Filipov awarded title of Hero of Russian Federation
/ref> Filipov was buried on February 8th, 2018 at the Alley of Glory of the Kominternovskoye Cemetery in

, Russia with thousands of people in attendance. In a speech to the

Russian Parliament The Federal Assembly ( rus, Федера́льное Собра́ние, r=Federalnoye Sobraniye, p=fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnəjə sɐˈbranʲɪjə) is the national legislature of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of the Russian F ...

Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...

hailed his courage and service.

Notes

External links

Fighter pilot killed in Syria jet downing posthumously nominated for Hero of Russia title

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

, 5 February 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Filipov, Roman 1984 births 2018 deaths Heroes of the Russian Federation People from Voronezh Suicides by explosive device Russian military personnel killed in the Syrian civil war 21st-century Russian military personnel Deaths by hand grenade Shot-down aviators Russian aviators Suicides in Syria

Biography

See also

Notes

External links