As part of the work to counter the ideology of terrorism, the Voronezh Regional Art Museum. I.N. Kramskoy begins a series of online publications “Heroes of Russia”, dedicated to the natives and residents of the Voronezh region – the Heroes of Russia, who distinguished themselves in the fight against international terrorism.

Roman Nikolayevich Filipov (1984–2018) – a native of Voronezh, a military pilot, deputy squadron commander of the 187th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment, Guards Major.

Born on August 13, 1984 in Voronezh in the family of military pilot Nikolai Filipov. In 2001 he graduated from secondary school No. 85 in Voronezh. He studied at the Armavir Center of the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School. In the 4th year, he transferred to a branch in Borisoglebsk and continued his studies at the Borisoglebsk Aviation Training Center named after V.P. Chkalov.

Since 2006, he served in the 187th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment in the village of Chernigovka, Primorsky Krai. He passed all positions from senior pilot to deputy squadron commander of the assault aviation regiment of the Eastern Military District, from where he was seconded to the location of the Russian Aerospace Forces aviation group in Syria, where he took part in military operations as a flight commander of Su-25SM attack aircraft. As an ace pilot of attack aircraft, Roman Filipov repeatedly took part in the All-Russian military maneuvers “Aviadarts”, where in 2013 he took second place among attack aircraft. He was a first-class military pilot with a total of 1,300 hours of flight time and made about 80 sorties.

Roman Filipov died on February 3, 2018 while performing a combat mission in the Syrian Arab Republic. During a flight over the Idlib de-escalation zone, the Su-25SM attack aircraft under his control was shot down by a shot from a portable anti-aircraft missile system. The pilot ejected, but on the ground he was surrounded by militants and died in the ensuing battle: firing back from the attackers from service weapons, he was seriously wounded, and then blew himself up and the approaching militants with a grenade with the words “This is for you guys!” This moment, filmed on a mobile phone by one of the terrorists in February 2018, was seen by the whole world.

Posthumously, Roman Filipov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation “for heroism, courage and bravery shown in the performance of military duty.” The award was presented to relatives by the President of Russia in the Kremlin on Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23, 2018.

The pilot was buried in Voronezh on the Alley of Heroes of the Comintern Cemetery.

Two streets in Voronezh and Borisoglebsk and 3 aircraft are named after Filipov.
On the territory of school No. 85, which bears the name of the hero, a monument to the pilot was erected.
In February 2019, in Voronezh (Studencheskaya St.), a commemorative graffiti appeared on the wall of a transformer booth with the image of Roman Filipov and his last words. The creation of the drawing was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the death of the Voronezh pilot.
In Syria, at the site of the death of Roman Filipov, Russian officers erected a memorial complex – a black stone with the image of a pilot with the inscription: “Here, on February 3, 2018, the Hero of the Russian Federation Guards Major Filipov Roman Nikolaevich took the last unequal battle.” The inscription is duplicated in Arabic. The Russian flag flies over the monument.

ETERNAL GLORY TO THE HERO!