The pilot of the second Russian Su-25 described how he tried to protect Major Filipov
A member of the Su-25SM attack aircraft crew led by Major Roman Filipov, who died in the fight against terrorists after his plane was shot down over Syria, said that he protected the commander with air-to-air fire until the moment when fuel and ammunition ran out.
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| Photo: Sputnik |
"His voice did not tremble when I warned: 'They are shooting at you, Keep Up! Tangage! Tangage! Move away!', - said the pilot.
According to him, Roman Filipov calmly said: "They hit me… It was hard… I tried to fly towards the South… the left engine started… Call IDP (Search and Rescue Team)".
Then came the final words: "You fly up into the clouds," - added the pilot.
"Of course I didn't fly away. Leaving the commander behind was the last thing," he said.
The pilot explained that the flight over the "Idlib" area was a routine, but combat mission. There, in the areas controlled by the terrorists Jebhat an Nusra*, there is a regular occurrence of indiscriminate firing from mortars and pistols. The flight was military.
"I had always protected the command in the air and I needed to do this on the ground, when Mr. Filipov was struggling. I stayed in this area and made some attacks, destroying some cars that approached the olive grove where Roman landed."
"I saw the commander's landing site, but did not see the battle because of the sunset… I had to leave the scene with emergency fuel, just enough to fly to the airport", - the pilot concluded.