Journalist: the pilot of a Russian fighter jet shot down in Syria was not a Ukrainian citizen
The Russian pilot, a Major in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Roman Filippov, who was killed in Syria, had never been a citizen of Ukraine as stated by a journalist, Yury Butusov, on Facebook.
"He was a career officer. He was transferred to the Crimea from Russia and joined the 37th mixed aviation regiment (commander - Colonel Oleg Terebunsky). The regiment is based in Hvardiiske in the occupied Crimea. Information from the Russian Ministry of Defense, disseminated by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that Filippov is a former Ukrainian traitor, is not true," the journalist writes.
According to him, Filippov was one of the best Russian assault aviation pilots and repeatedly took part in the "Aviadarts" military exercises.
"However, he decided to become a terrorist and went to war in Syria. Russian aviation has been mercilessly bombing the Syrian town of Saraqib and its surroundings for over a week now. And in all this time, rebels have not managed to respond to Russian aviation terrorists," Butusov says.
Butusov specified that Saraqib is not occupied by ISIS as Russian media reports. This town has been under control of rebels supported by Turkey for a long time.
On February 3rd, Syrian rebels shot down a Russian Su-25 warplane. The pilot ejected, but was killed by militants on the ground.