Russian soldiers would rather die than surrender to rebels in Syria

Russia confirmed yesterday that Major Roman Filippov, the pilot of the Su-25 fighter jet shot down in Syria, detonated a grenade to avoid being captured by Syrian rebels. He is not the first Russian serviceman to accept death rather than surrender to the enemy in Syria. Two years ago, special forces officer Alexander Prokhorenko performed a similar act of heroism.

Prokhorenko died on March 17, 2016 at the age of 25, when he alone penetrated deep into the area controlled by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group on the outskirts of Palmyra, Homs to discover and direct important targets for Russian aircraft to bomb.

However, during the operation, Prokhorenko was unfortunately discovered and surrounded by IS rebels. The rebels tried to capture Prokhorenko alive because for them, a prisoner who was a Russian special forces officer would bring a great advantage when bargaining, and at the same time serve the rebels' propaganda purposes.

When he was alone facing the IS group that was trying to block all the roads, Prokhorenko knew that there was no way out. Realizing that the militants were closing in, Prokhorenko made the most important decision.

He radioed pilots at the Hmeymim base, ordering them to drop bombs on the coordinates of his hiding place. A few minutes later, Russian fighter jets swooped down and dropped bombs on that location, killing the rebels, but Prokhorenko was also killed.

By pageLiveleak, Prokhorenko's last message to his comrades was: "I am surrounded, they are outside, I do not want them to capture me and parade me as a trophy. Air strikes, otherwise they will mock me and this uniform".

"I want to die with honor and make these bastards die too. Please fulfill my last wish, air strike because they will kill me anyway. Thank you commander, tell my family and country that I am very brave and I fought till my last breath. Take care of my family, avenge my death. Goodbye, tell my family that I love them."

Meanwhile, back home, his young wife Ekaterina had no idea that her husband was fighting in Syria. When Prokhorenko left his wife and unborn child two months earlier, she believed he was headed to Russia’s Caucasus region, not the Syrian battlefield, where the special forces officer had been secretly infiltrating IS strongholds day and night to carry out his mission.

With the support of Syrian Kurdish forces, Prokhorenko's body was brought back to Moscow on April 29. His comrades and the Russian people called him "Russia's Rambo" to praise his courage and sacrifice. The government of Orenburg, Prokhorenko's hometown, named a street after him. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally visited Prokhorenko's family to posthumously award him the Hero of Russia medal, the highest award for fallen heroes.

In the case of the Russian Su-25 being shot down on February 3, pilot Filippov tried to control the plane to the end to save it and report the situation to the command post in time. However, the plane crashed shortly after, forcing him to parachute into the rebel-controlled area.

Filippov fought to the last minute with a pistol he carried with him, because he did not have time to pull out his rifle from under the ejection seat. Filippov hid behind a rock, fired a whole clip of his pistol and was also hit as the rebels closed in.

Realizing that he was in danger of being captured alive, the Russian pilot major killed himself with a grenade when the rebels were only a few dozen meters away. Video posted on the IDLIB + YouTube channel shows Syrian rebels approaching Filippov's hiding place behind a rock. He shouted "for my comrades" before pulling the pin of the grenade. There was a loud bang and smoke rose from behind the rock, but it is not clear whether any rebels were killed in the blast.

Roman Filippov was born in 1984 in Voronhez, in a family with a tradition of military pilots. He has a wife and a 5-year-old daughter. Filippov is considered a good and experienced pilot, having held the positions of chief pilot and deputy commander of the attack squadron of the Eastern Military District.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Filipov had carried out "dozens of combat missions in Syria to destroy international terrorist groups and escorted several aid convoys to liberated areas." He will be posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia.

Phuong Vu