During the Syrian civil war, the Russian Air Force, as a force supporting the Syrian government forces, once beat the rebels to the head.
Of course, where there is fighting, there are sacrifices. In one battle, a Su-25 fighter was shot down, and although the pilot successfully parachuted to escape, he also fell into the enemy's encirclement. In order not to be captured, he shouted "For the brothers" and immediately detonated the grenade he was carrying.
The name of the heroic pilot is Filipov, and compared with Lieutenant Prohouniko, who shouted "fire at me" and died before, Filipov's sacrifice was obviously more tragic, and because of this, when the incident was exposed, it caused an uproar in an instant.
However, while the outside world greatly respects this flying hero, there are also many doubts raised, how can the rebels, who have always been like scattered soldiers, have weapons that can shoot down Su-25 fighters?
Today, I will talk to you about what happened before his sacrifice. And what measures did Russia take after his death?
In 2018, the vigorous Syrian civil war clearly shows no signs of stopping, in fact, the reason why the rebels have been able to stand up to Russia for so long is entirely because of Turkey as a backstage. On February 5 of that year, Filipov received orders to fly a fighter jet alone over a very remote base in Syria to carry out a beheading of the leader of the rebels.
In fact, before that, Filipov had participated in many missions to strike the enemy, and he had never disappointed the Russian Air Force with his many military achievements. It is precisely because of this that this difficult task fell on him, and it is not an exaggeration to say that Filipov is completely Russia's ace pilot.
At about 5 a.m. on February 5, he piloted the Su-25 fighter jet closer to the target, but when he was 150 kilometers away from the enemy, Filipov suddenly lost contact with the headquarters. This is a very abnormal thing, for the Air Force, without a command is equivalent to blinding an eye, and because of this, all countries in the world have made sufficient efforts in this field.
Today, there is only one scenario in which communications are disrupted, and that is when the enemy has the means to interfere with the radio signals of the Su-25 fighters. Of course, as an ace pilot, Felikov has long been trained, so even without a command, he still continues to approach the target with his familiarity with the terrain, and at the same time, he also holds the button to launch the missile in his hand.
But just when Filipov was still 50 kilometers away from the target, an ominous premonition lingered in his heart, and before he could react, there was a sudden explosion, and the powerful impact made Filipov lose consciousness for a short time, and when he woke up, he found that the right rear part of the fighter had been attacked by missiles.
At that time, the number on the fighter's altimeter rapidly decreased, and when it was about to crash, Philippov immediately pulled the escape handle, and as he was ejected from the cockpit, the distant fighter also lit a raging fire after making contact with the ground.
It has to be said that this was a failed combat mission, but the comforting point is that the ace pilot was not injured, and this also means that with his ability, he must be able to hide before the enemy can find him, and then travel a long way back to the base to bring back useful information for the Russian Air Force.
In fact, Filipov really thinks so, of course, clutching the parachute, he is also wondering, how can the rebels, who have never had the ability to fight back, "change shotguns" and directly shoot themselves down today?
However, while Filipov was still floating in the sky, he saw a scene that shocked him. More than 30 raggedly dressed but well-trained enemies were galloping in the direction he landed, and not only that, but his side occasionally rubbed the bullets fired by the enemy.
Faced with such a situation, Filipov immediately adjusted the direction of flight and chose an extremely tricky landing site. However, the enemy was clearly not a ragtag group, and they reacted quickly, and called for military pickup trucks to go to the landing site of Filipov to chase and intercept him.
Immediately after landing on the ground, Filipov engaged in a desperate fight with the rebels with the pistol he was carrying, but the bullets were quickly fired, at which point Filipov discovered that there were more than 70 enemies chasing him, many of whom had been ambushed at the landing site in advance. Meanwhile, not only is there an enemy staring at the tiger, but there is also an armed man like a journalist running towards him with a camera.
Seeing such a scene, Philippov immediately understood the enemy's intentions, perhaps the other side not only wanted to defeat him, but also wanted to capture him, in order to threaten the Russian Air Force.
What happened next was what we had talked about at the beginning, and in order not to fall into the hands of the enemy, Filipov immediately shifted his position and came to the back of a boulder. Seeing the enemy gather around him, he shouted "For the brothers!" Then he detonated the grenade he was carrying. With a loud explosion, Filipov disappeared into the smoke with a dozen or so nearest enemies, and the rebel man carrying the camera clearly recorded the feat.
For a time, the enemy was also confused, and it is reasonable to say that pilots are often elites created by a country that has spent countless resources, so not killing pilots has always been an unwritten rule among countries around the world, which is why they expect to be able to capture Philippov alive.
But what they did not expect was that in order not to be captured, Philippov actually chose to cut himself off, not only that, but also chose to use such a dangerous way as detonating grenades, and even sacrificed to take the life of the enemy.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, which learned of this, was naturally furious and immediately organized a special service team to take a helicopter to the site of Filipov's sacrifice, and then they found the path where the enemy left with Filipov's body through clues, and all the way to the enemy's camp.
With the muffled sound of the silencers, many enemies fell under the fire of the Special Service, and then they also succeeded in quietly taking Philippov's body out of the camp. At this point, the ace pilot, who bravely pulled the grenade in the face of the enemy, also returned to the arms of his comrades-in-arms, and later, he was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of Russia".
Of course, in the face of such a rampant enemy, it is not called a Russian army without revenge, and just when the rebels realized that Filipov's body had been snatched and prepared to pursue it, multiple Su-25 fighters had flown above their heads, and with the attack of 6 ground-to-ground missiles, more than 40 enemies were also blown to ashes in the earth-shattering explosion.
However, after recovering Philippov's body, the Russian military also reviewed the mission. The reason for Filipov's attack was so bizarre that the rebels had the equipment to interfere with communications, so how could they have missiles capable of shooting down a high-speed Su-25 fighter? Not only that, but after Filipov's parachute, how did the enemy predict the landing point of his parachute and ambush him in the first place?
On the other hand, the rebels chasing Filipov are completely different from the rabble-rousers in other regions, who have high-tech equipment that their supporters Turkey does not have, and will use them; at the same time, they are far superior in combat literacy and organization to the enemies that the Russians have faced before.
After some investigation, the truth was finally revealed, and the Philipov fighter was shot down by the American Stinger missile, and the equipment that interfered with communications in the hands of the enemy before, as well as the equipment that predicted the landing point of the parachute, were all American goods. This means that the rebels may have received direct funding from some Western countries.
In Russia's war against the Syrian rebels after Filipov's death, there has never been a trace of affection. Not only did it help the Syrian government recover 90 percent of its territory, it also wiped out 30,000 enemies in a matter of months.
It has to be said that The death of Filipov undoubtedly completely ignited the fighting spirit of the Russians, and this ace pilot who dared to die with the enemy will also affect countless Russian descendants.