Russia’s air pilot Roman Filipov, whose Sukhoi-25 plane was shot down in Syria, has been posthumously nominated for the title of Hero of Russia, the country's Defense Ministry said.
"Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has posthumously nominated Major Roman Filipov, deputy squadron commander of the Eastern Military District’s attack aviation regiment, who was killed on February 3, 2018 while fighting terrorists in Syria for the title of Hero of Russia," the report says.
"The pilot did his best to keep the plane in the air as long as he could. He managed to report to his commanders he had been attacked by a missile. Filipov ejected himself and landed near the terrorists-held village of Tell-Debes. Until the last moments of his life he fought with the terrorists with his hand weapon. The pilot blew himself up with a grenade after being heavily injured and surrounded by terrorists when the attackers were several dozen meters away," TASS cited the ministry as saying.
