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Russian Pilot Blows Himself Up To Avoid Being Captured By Jihadists In Syria

Russian Pilot Blows Himself Up To Avoid Being Captured By Jihadists In Syria

The pilot has blown himself up with a grenade in order to avoid being captured by jihadist fighters in Syria

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa Pearlmen

A Russian pilot has blown himself up with a grenade in order to avoid being captured by jihadist fighters in Syria.

Major Roman Filipov, 33, killed himself after shouting: "This is for our guys," as a number of rebel fighters approached him.

A statement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry said that Filipov ejected from his Sukhoi 25SM fighter jet after being hit with a missile from a portable surface-to-air system in Idlib, reports Russia Today.

The soldier, who was originally from Vladivostok, east Russia, has posthumously been awarded the Hero Of Russia medal - the Kremlin's highest honour.

Getty

After hitting the ground, Filipov apparently remained in radio contact for a while with the Russian airbase in Khmeimim, Syria, reporting that he had had shot and killed two jihadist fighters with his hand gun as they were closing in on him.

When he realised he was outnumbered and his situation as hopeless, he pulled the pin on his grenade and blew himself up.

Russia's defence ministry confirmed the incident with the following statement: "A Russian Su-25 aircraft crashed during a flight over the Idlib de-escalation zone.

A Turkish army vehicle is deployed in Idlib province, Syria (
PA)

"The pilot had enough time to announce he had ejected into the zone, under the control of al-Nusra Front fighters.

"The pilot was killed in fighting against terrorists."

After Filipov's plane was shot down on Saturday, Russian jets intensified their raids on rebel-held towns and cities in the province.

Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in a statement: "The pilot died heroically. The pilot's family and friends have our condolences, and we are proud of our heroes."

Image taken from a propaganda drone video showing Islamic State suicide bomber attack on a Syrian Army positions (
PA)

The Syrian Civil War began in 2011, growing out of the Arab Spring that took place across the Middle East and North Africa.

The unrest in Syria grew out of discontent with the regime led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Protests calling for his removal escalated to armed conflict after they were violently suppressed.

Featured Image Credit: The Siberian Times

Topics: terrorism, Syria, Russia