The pilot of the Russian Su-25 warplane down over the Syrian province of Idlib died fighting militants on the ground according to a video circulating online. The video shows militants trying to capture the pilot alive, but they appear to be engaged in a gunfight with the pilot.
On February 3, the Russian Su-25 was downed with a MANPAD southwest of the militant-held city of Saraqib. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the incident and said that the pilot died “during combat with terrorists”.
According to the Russian media, the killed pilot was Major Roman Filippov. He was a former Ukrainian pilot from the city of Simpferopol in what is now the Russian Republic of Crimea.
