Marina, Novy Urengoy

The pilot of the Su-25 shot down in Syria, Major Roman Filipov, was awarded the title of Hero of Russia posthumously. This is stated in the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, received at the disposal of RT.

“Major Roman Filipov, who died on February 3, 2018 in a battle with terrorists in the Syrian Arab Republic, was presented by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, to be awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously,” the agency’s press release said.

That the pilot tried to keep the plane in the air to the last and managed to report to the command that he was attacked by a missile.

“Having landed after an ejection in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Tell-Debes, controlled by terrorists, Major Roman Filipov, until the last minutes of his life, fought an unequal battle with standard weapons, keeping the militants out. After being surrounded by terrorists, being seriously wounded, when the distance to the militants was reduced to several tens of meters, the Russian officer blew himself up with a grenade,” the Defense Ministry said.

• Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces Surovikin: officer Filipov accepted an unequal battle with terrorists

The deceased major was an experienced pilot.

Filipov graduated from the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation Pilot School. The command characterized him as a promising, competent and determined attack pilot, enjoying well-deserved authority in the air regiment and among subordinates in the squadron.

After graduating from a military school, the officer served in the Far East, where he held all positions - from senior pilot to deputy squadron commander. As noted in the ministry, Roman Filipov was also the winner of the all-army competition "Aviadarts".

He has dozens of brilliantly completed combat missions in Syria to destroy militants and escort humanitarian convoys of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties to settlements liberated from terrorists.

The Ministry of Defense promised to provide the necessary support and assistance to the parents and family of the heroically deceased pilot.

The Kremlin's reaction

The Kremlin, in turn, reported that in response to the downed Su-25 to suppress the activity of terrorists in Syria.

“When President Putin spoke about the completion of the active stage of the operation to support the Syrian Armed Forces in their counter-terrorism work, he said that the remaining and remaining potential of the Russian armed forces in temporary bases is sufficient to deliver a crushing blow to terrorists if necessary. It is precisely such pinpoint strikes that we are talking about, ”said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, commenting on the response of the Russian military against terrorists after the incident with the Su-25 attack aircraft.

He stressed that Russia's decisive response followed the attack on the Russian plane, and also expressed condolences to the family of the deceased pilot.

“The pilot died heroically, we all condole with the family and friends of the pilot and are proud of our heroes. Naturally, this tragic incident was followed by decisive action to curb terrorist activity,” the spokesman added.

Attack on a Russian attack aircraft

February 3, 2018 in the Syrian province of Idlib. The pilot managed to eject in the area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra militants *, but he died as a result of a clash with terrorists.

Jabhat al-Nusra claimed responsibility for the downed plane.

According to preliminary information, the Su-25 was shot down by militants from a portable anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS).

The Russian military launched a retaliatory group strike with precision weapons, as a result of which more than 30 al-Nusra militants were killed. This was reported in the Russian Defense Ministry.

“In the area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, in the province of Idlib, from where a MANPADS missile was launched at a Russian Su-25 aircraft, a group strike was carried out with high-precision weapons,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

According to preliminary data, the Russian attack aircraft was shot down from a MANPADS imported into Syria from a neighboring state. This was announced by the coordinator of the friendship group of the Syrian Parliament and the State Duma, the first deputy chairman of the organization of veterans "Combat Brotherhood" Dmitry Sablin.

“There is information that the MANPADS from which our plane was shot down were brought to Syria from a neighboring state a few days ago ... Countries from whose territory weapons come here in order to be directed against the Russian military must understand that this is not will go unpunished,” he added.

Later, a video appeared on the network, which, presumably, depicted the battle between the militants and the Russian pilot after the ejection. On the record, you can hear the phrase: “This is for you guys.”

* "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" ("Front al-Nusra", "Jabhat al-Nusra") - the organization was recognized as a terrorist organization by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.

Important details of the death of the Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in Syria, shot down by terrorists of the group banned in Russia, Jaish al-Nasr, on February 3, 2018, are becoming known. The fire was opened from the Igla portable anti-aircraft missile system. The tragedy occurred in the province of Idlib near the village of Maasran. This is the first loss of a combat aircraft of our Aerospace Forces in Syria from ground fire in two and a half years, since the start of the Russian operation in this country.

So, from this seemingly report of the regiment commander it follows that the feat near the Syrian village of Maasran was accomplished Major Roman Filippov. The experience of previous similar leaks from the Ministry of Defense shows that this is most likely the truth. But let's wait for official clarification.

And Ukrainian publications are already gloating with might and main: this Filippov, as it turned out, served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine until 2014. His stormtrooper Su-25 SM-56 (registration number RF-95486, serial number 10393) was based at the Belbek airfield near Sevastopol. After the reunification of Crimea with our Motherland, he took the Russian oath. And now I've found this ending...

And while our Ministry of Defense plays silent, while the fallen hero is not officially named a hero, this kind of gloating is growing in the neighboring country.

What's next? I believe that the death of a Russian attack aircraft will inevitably entail new diplomatic difficulties along the Moscow-Washington and Moscow-Ankara lines. Because it became obvious: it is very likely that either Turkey or the United States put the MANPADS from which another Russian plane was shot down into the hands of terrorists. After all, the Jaish al-Nasr group is not at all the sinister ISIS *, with which the listed countries are, as it were, fighting with us in Syria. This gang in the West is considered relatively civilized and refers to the so-called Syrian Free Army, opposing the regime Bashar al-Assad. Both Ankara and Washington support it quite openly. And since 2012, quite modern weapons have been openly supplied to the Jaish al-Nasr formations. To which the Igla MANPADS, no doubt, also applies.

And further. Let's not ignore the fact that, as already mentioned, literally on the day of the tragedy, the Russian Aerospace Forces razed to the ground the area from where they fired at the Su-25. It's good that at least this was officially announced so quickly. And what they compared is also good. Because the terrorists of the whole world have received another confirmation of the fact that our military from the very top has long been given the command not to leave any such crime unpunished. The chronicle of our losses in Syria and the facts of revenge that followed each of them testify to this with all certainty. Let's take a quick look at some facts.

Remember how on November 24, 2015, near the Syrian border in the province of Latakia, a Turkish F-16C fighter treacherously shot down a Su-24M front-line bomber of the Russian Aerospace Forces from an ambush? The crew of the bomber commander lieutenant colonel Oleg Peshkov and Navigator Major Konstantin Murakhtin ejected. Only Murakhtin escaped. Peshkov, who was descending by parachute, was shot from the ground by militants who considered themselves to be members of the Turkish right-wing radical group “Gray Wolves”.

And a few hours later, the mountain covered with dense forest, over which Lieutenant Colonel Peshkov died, came shaking from the explosions. Heavy fire was carried out not only by our multiple launch rocket systems, but aviation also delivered missile and bomb strikes.

Moscow immediately imposed economic sanctions against Turkey. However, the President Vladimir Putin promised that the Turks would no longer get off with tomatoes banned for import into Russia. On November 25 of the same year, near the Syrian city of Aazaz, just five kilometers from the border with Turkey, Russian attack aircraft attacked a Turkish convoy that was carrying military supplies (weapons, ammunition, medicines and food) to militants close to Ankara. It became known from the Turkish press that a missile attack would instantly 20 trucks destroyed, seven escorts killed. Soon the President Recep Erdogan zasobiralsya to Moscow to put up.

In August 2016, a group of aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces launched large-scale airstrikes in the area where our helicopter had previously been shot down Mi-8 with five Russian soldiers and on board. According to the Conflict News portal, which "monitors" the news of armed conflicts around the world, the strikes were carried out on the positions of the terrorists of the Jabhat al-Nusra group **, which took responsibility for the destruction of the Mi-8.

In December 2016, mortars were fired at a Russian military hospital. One of our female doctors died on the spot. Another nurse soon died of her wounds. The response from the United States has been amazing. National Security Adviser to the President of the United States Susan Rice began for health: "The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms these horrific attacks against medical infrastructure and humanitarian workers ... There can be no justification for these heinous actions." And she finished for peace: “The Syrian regime and its allies, especially Russia, are responsible for the immediate and long-term consequences of these actions in Syria and beyond.”

Less is known about our reaction to the attack on the hospital. But at the end of December, the Kremlin hosted closed awarding of fighters of the Russian Special Operations Forces. Three unnamed officers became Heroes of the Russian Federation. Several more from the hands of Putin received military orders. They are said to have first tracked down the gang that killed the medics. And then they destroyed four dozen of them.

In September 2017, it became known about the death in Syria near Deir ez-Zor of the head of a group of military advisers Major General Valery Asapov, before a trip to this country, who commanded the 5th combined arms army of the RF Armed Forces. Immediately, our bombers were lifted into the air, which dealt a massive blow to the positions of the so-called "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDG), from which Asapov was killed. According to the press service of this organization, the losses of the terrorists amounted to six people.

On December 31, 2017, just before the New Year, a group of militants fired mortars at the Russian Khmeimim military base. Two of our soldiers were killed. At that time, the gang, already taught by bitter experience, which probably moved in cars, withdrew so quickly that retribution had to wait several days. But it followed. The Special Operations Forces of Russia again entered the case. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a group of saboteurs was tracked down and artillery was aimed at it. And further: “Upon the arrival of the terrorists at the facility where they were preparing to transfer to a minibus, the entire sabotage group was destroyed by the Krasnopol high-precision munition.

Taken together, these facts undeniably testify: system of revenge. Moreover, organized and sanctioned revenge on the part of the state, the possibilities of which in this respect are practically unlimited.

As it became known from archival materials published in recent decades, domestic intelligence agencies have been operating this way for a long time, since the days of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, we generously abandoned this practice. And again they were forced to return to it, obviously, only after Vladimir Putin came to power. When the country was literally overwhelmed by the war of terror, the roots of which stretched to the North Caucasus.

Perhaps the first example was the liquidation in 2003 in Qatar fugitive former leader of the so-called Ichkeria Zelimkhan Yandarbieva. He was blown up in his own car. Soon the Qatari police arrested two Russian citizens accused of murdering Yandarbiev. In June 2004, the suspects were sentenced to life imprisonment. But soon after negotiations at the highest level, they were released. Then at home they were met with military honors.

From the point of view of pure law, perhaps not everything is perfect here. It is clear that, in fact, we are talking about extrajudicial reprisals. It is clear that people who did not directly participate in the crime can fall under the fire of the avenging (and certainly fall!) However, firstly, many states do the same. First of all, Israel and the United States. And secondly - how else to stop the terrorists? In war - as in war. Human rights are always the last thing on her mind.

* "Islamic State" (other names: "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria", "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", "Islamic State of Iraq and Sham", ISIS) is prohibited in Russia by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 12/29/2014.

** "Jabhat al-Nusra" ("Front of Victory", other names: "Jabha al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham", i.e. "Front for the Support of Greater Syria") was prohibited by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 12/29/2014 of the year.

In his last battle, our pilot blew himself up with a grenade. Al-Nusra Front, a terrorist group banned in Russia, took responsibility for the attack on the Russian plane.

I didn’t want to believe until the last, although everything was clearly visible on a large number of videos. This is actually, they really launch a rocket from a portable anti-aircraft missile system at it, a damaged engine burns, the pilot ejects ... However, for what reason was the plane flying so low? The Russian Aerospace Forces are trying to work at an altitude that is too tough for modern MANPADS. And here you can see that the Su-25 flies at very low altitudes. Yes, this is his combat feature as an attack aircraft - to attack a target from a small height. But maybe it was a Syrian Air Force pilot?

Alas, the first shots of the crashed plane dotted the "i". On the burning wings, the identification marks of the Russian Aerospace Forces were clearly visible. And around the body of the deceased Russian pilot, the bearded beast began to dance with phones, filming the heroically deceased officer of the Russian Federation on mobile phones.

They began to fire at him while still in the air, while he was descending by parachute. However, they didn't hit. As the terrorists write on social networks, they wanted to take him alive. However, the pilot, having landed, decided to take the fight, realizing that he could be waiting in captivity. Later, the militants posted on the Internet a photo of a Russian pilot's Stechkin pistol. One clip was empty, the other two were half shot. There is a possibility that during the battle he had a jammed cartridge. And in a hurry, he loaded another store, not having time to shoot it to the end. When the terrorists came close, they immediately rushed in all directions. This can be seen in the next video posted by the militants. A moment ... And an explosion. There is a possibility that the pilot blew himself up with a grenade so as not to be captured.

Alas, he landed in enemy territory. And help just didn't have time to arrive.

At the Khmeimim air base, a search and rescue group, which also includes special forces units, is always on duty in such situations. Thanks to the actions of such a group, for example, it was possible to save the navigator of the Su-24 shot down by the Turks when Oleg Peshkov died. But then, in addition to Russian special forces, there were also Syrian colleagues nearby. Right there, for tens of kilometers around, there are only various groups that often quarrel with each other. Among them are the Free Syrian Army and militants from Jaish al-Nasr, who, however, are listed as moderate opposition. And the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, already recognized by all, is a rebranding of the well-known Jabhat al-Nusra, which is a branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria. It was she who took responsibility for the attack on the Russian Su-25. In the video posted on Nusra's Twitter, you can see how a rocket takes off at our plane. But what kind of MANPADS it was is not visible. Recently, information slipped that America supplied portable complexes to the Kurds, perhaps they got to the militants in the same way. But, with the same success, it can be Soviet-made MANPADS from the captured warehouses of the Syrian army. Or delivered from the same Qatar. There are a large number of options.

At the same time, the province of Idlib, in which the incident occurred, is Turkey's area of ​​​​responsibility. And, there is a possibility that questions may still arise for Ankara. It is worth noting that attack drones flew out from the same province, which attacked the Russian air base near Latakia in January. And Vladimir Putin noted that Turkey had nothing to do with this: “There were provocateurs there, but not the Turks. And we know who they are, we know how much and to whom they paid for this provocation. Regarding these incidents, there is nothing good about it. These are provocations aimed at disrupting previously reached agreements.” Vladimir Putin also said that these actions are aimed at undermining Russia's relations with Turkey and Iran.

The Russian Defense Ministry is currently negotiating with partners on the return of the body of the deceased pilot of the Russian Federation to their homeland.

TTX attack aircraft Su-25

Crew - 1 pilot

Length - 15.53 m.

Wingspan - 14.36 m.

The maximum takeoff weight is 16.5 tons.

The maximum flight range with a maximum combat load is 1250 km.

Practical ceiling - 7000 m.

Armament:

- Double-barreled 30-mm gun (ammunition - 250 shells);

- 10 suspension points, which can be placed on guided and unguided missiles, aerial bombs, as well as cannon containers. In general, 32 types of weapons can be installed on the Su-25.

According to sources in the Ministry of Defense, the Su-25 pilot in that flight had one single task - reconnaissance of the de-escalation zone.

“No bombing or other attacks were planned,” the source said. - It is absolutely certain that he did not bomb, but carried out a flyby for the purpose of reconnaissance. It was because of this that the attack aircraft descended to a height at which MANPADS could reach it, which militants from that group did not have before ...

“It’s hard for me to say what happened there,” commented the former commander of the front-line aviation of the Russian Air Force, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Antoshkin. I don't know if the pilot used traps or not. The Su-25 is equipped with both traps against missiles with radar homing heads and missiles with infrared heads. The Stinger, if it was him, works up to 5 thousand meters, and in this situation, of course, if the attack aircraft went lower, infrared traps must be used. And we trained pilots to get out of the attack at an altitude of at least 5 thousand meters, and if lower, then intensively shoot these traps,” he said.

“And anti-missile maneuvers could have saved him?”

- It is unlikely, since the aircraft and the pilot have an overload tolerance of 8.5 units, and a rocket - several dozen. If the rocket went, then only infrared traps can take it aside.

“A ground attack aircraft cannot, during the entire flight, which sometimes lasts a couple of hours, shoot off heat traps,” said military expert, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko. - They shoot back at more dangerous stages, if there is a possibility of the enemy using MANPADS. In this case, the use of MANPADS by militants in the area was a surprise.

The terrorist group Al-Nusra Front is banned in Russia.

Immediately after the incident in the area from which a missile was launched at our attack aircraft, the armed forces launched a group strike with precision weapons. This video was posted by the Ministry of Defense. As stated in a statement by the defense department, “according to radio intercepts, over 30 militants of Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in the Russian Federation) were killed as a result of the strike.

And on Sunday, the Syrian special forces entered the area filled with terrorists, which was supported from the air by the Russian Aerospace Forces. In addition to the destruction of the militants, the task of the special forces is to search for elements of MANPADS in order to get an answer to the question: who supplied the thugs from Jabha al-Nusra with these complexes.

At the same time, Pentagon spokesman Erich Pahon was already quick to report that "America has not supplied partner forces in Syria with any surface-to-air weapons and does not plan to do so in the future."

Responsibility for the strike from a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) on the Su-25 Grach attack aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces was taken by militants of the Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation, which is part of the Jebhan al-Nusra terrorist organization ( prohibited in Russia).

The day before, the Russian military launched a precision retaliatory strike on the area in whose airspace the plane was shot down.

“A group strike was carried out with high-precision weapons. According to radio intercepts, more than thirty militants were killed as a result of the strike, ”the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

A Pentagon spokesman said that the Russian attack aircraft could not have been hit by American-made MANPADS. According to Pahon, Washington "does not supply partner forces in Syria with surface-to-air weapons and does not intend to do so in the future."

The Pentagon spokesman also noted that all the efforts of Operation Invincible Resolve, carried out by the international coalition led by the United States, are primarily focused on combating terrorist (IS, banned in the Russian Federation).

“We will evaluate the validity of such statements in order to ensure the safety of our coalition partners,” the spokesman emphasized, answering the question that the Russian Su-25 could allegedly have been shot down by American weapons.

On Saturday, February 3, it became known that militants of the Jebhan al-Nusra terrorist group shot down a Russian Aerospace Forces attack aircraft. The Su-25 pilot managed to report the ejection, after which he stopped communicating.

At the same time, one of the stores is completely empty, two more are only half full of cartridges - that is, the pilot died in battle, firing back from the terrorists surrounding him.

The terrorists also posted a video showing one of them approaching the wing of a downed plane with a red star, jumping on it, trampling on the symbols of the Russian Aerospace Forces and shouting curses at the Russians and Russia. All videos of the terrorists are accompanied by multiple repetitions of the takbir "Allah Akbar".

According to the site kp.ru, the pilot who died in combat with the militants served in the Far East, but was trained in the Kuban: in 2006 he graduated from an aviation school. He was assigned to one of the air regiments stationed in the Krasnodar Territory.

“When he became a combat officer, his name was well-known in aviation circles, the pilot is a real ace, a master of his craft,” the source quotes the publication.

According to the agency Conflict Intelligence Team, the dead pilot was a major from Simferopol. However, it does not provide official confirmation of the identity of the aviator.

Now Russia, together with Turkey, is taking measures to return the body of the pilot to their homeland, the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria (CPVS) said on Sunday, February 4.

Since 1995, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have lost 15 Su-25 Grach aircraft. Ten pilots died as a result of the disasters. "Sushki" were shot down during the First and Second Chechen wars, as well as during the armed conflict in South Ossetia.

According to official publications of the Russian Ministry of Defense and representatives of Russian regional authorities, during the campaign of the Russian expeditionary force in Syria, which began on September 30, 2015, 44 Russian servicemen were killed as a result of hostilities.

On January 3, two pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces died as a result of the crash of an Mi-24 Crocodile attack helicopter in Syria. The accident occurred due to a technical malfunction.

On October 10, 2017, a tragedy occurred involving a domestic aircraft - two pilots of a Su-24 front-line bomber did not have time to eject and died after the plane skidded off the runway of the Khmeimim airfield.

On October 2, a colonel of the Marine Corps died of wounds in a hospital in Moscow - a land mine exploded under the car where the Russian officer was.