Courage. Alexander Prokhorenko. Heroes of the Syrian war. Our Heroes in Syria: Anniversary of the start of military operations of the Russian Aerospace Forces Heroes of the war in Syria Russians
IN big cities and small villages in Russia there are monuments to fallen soldiers-internationalists. Having accepted a heroic death in a foreign land, they returned home and forever became a symbol of loyalty to military duty. The children and grandchildren of the first internationalist soldiers grew up. many put on military uniform, proving that the continuity of generations is not an empty phrase. Some today in Syria are defending the world and the country from international terrorists who have sentenced all of humanity to death. Thirteen soldiers and officers returned from a Syrian business trip ahead of schedule, falling in a fight with ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the territory of the Russian Federation). But they did not fall unknown and abandoned - the Motherland remembers them and mourns.
Here is a mournful list of fallen heroes who died in Syria:
19 year old contractorVadim Kostenko,
died October 24, 2015;
- 27 year old gunnerFedor Zhuravlev, died November 19, 2015;
- 45-year-old bomber commanderOleg Peshkovand a 29-year-old MarineAlexander Pozynich
, died November 24, 2015;
- 42 year old military instructorIvan Cheremisin, died February 1, 2016;
- 25 year old gunnerAlexander Prokhorenko, died March 17, 2016;
- 38-year-old helicopter commanderAndrey Okladnikovand helicopter pilotViktor Pankovdied April 12, 2016;
- 31-year-old signalmanAnton Erygin, died May 7, 2016;
- 35-year-old artillerymanMikhail Shirokopoyas, died June 7, 2016;
- 28 year old MarineAndrey Timoshenkov, died June 16, 2016;
The most recent wound - military instructor pilots Ryafagat Khabibullin And Evgeny Dolgin. They died on July 8th. The crew commander, Colonel Khabibullin, turned 51, and his partner, Lieutenant Zhenya Dolgin, only managed to celebrate his 24th birthday.
Photo: Vladimir ANOSOV / RG
Both Syzran "helicopter" finished, in different years, of course. But both understood the combat mission correctly. They were flying around in an MI-25 helicopter when they called for help from the ground. The terrorists went on the offensive, broke through the defenses of government troops. The crew did not waste time thinking. In the defense department about this reported dry language, essentially:
The son of the crew commander, Ruslan Khabibullin, followed in the footsteps of his father, also a military man. And he says just as briefly:
“Father died like a hero, having done everything he could. He taught us to go only forward and always remain human. I ask the youth to once again look at the example of their father and try to be like him.”
Dozens of young pilots, whom the "pilot from God" managed to bring up, carry out this mandate with dignity.
“Once he led a little son into the cockpit of a helicopter. Since then, Eugene just fell in love with the rotorcraft and firmly decided: I will fly!
One guy didn't make it— to celebrate the first wedding anniversary with their Katyusha, they only got married in August.When the operation began in Syria, Katya asked him:“Zhen, aren’t you afraid?” And he answered: “Why be afraid? This is my profession, I studied it.”
I wonder if it is possible to learn a feat "professionally"? If there was such a special course, Sasha Prokhorenko would definitely get "excellent" for it.
What did the senior lieutenant, who was surrounded by terrorists and called fire upon himself, remember in the last minute of his life? Maybe the old Cossack motto taught by his father: "Soul to God, heart to a woman, duty to the Fatherland, honor to no one."
Or his native village of Gorodki in the Orenburg region, which in childhood he avoided barefoot up and down. Or his wife Katya, with whom they were so similar that they were even considered brother and sister. Or maybe the younger brother Vanya, who, following the example of Alexander, entered the Smolensk Air Defense Academy and is a second-year student. And he must have managed to manage his mother, and his father ... But I probably didn’t count how many bastard terrorists he would take with him. What is the time left to spend on them. I just knew there were a lot of them.
"For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, to award the title of Hero Russian Federation Senior Lieutenant Prokhorenko Alexander Alexandrovich (posthumously). Motherland appreciated the last feat of an officer Russian forces special operations.
Exactly one year has passed since the beginning of the participation of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation in military operations in Syria. On September 30, 2015, the first sortie of Russian pilots was made in support of the legitimate President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Airstrikes are carried out by a grouping located at the Khmeimim airfield, consisting of bombers and attack aircraft under the cover of fighters and helicopters. Russia-based strategic aircraft Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Federation, as well as ships Caspian flotilla And Black Sea Fleet- bombarded targets with cruise missiles.
The results of the first year of the campaign in Syria clearly showed that Russia is ready to finish off the terrorist groups. Russia's progress is impressive, and many military analysts speak of a turning point in the Syrian conflict. However, war also means sacrifice. During the Syrian operations, many Russian servicemen died - but Russia always remembers its heroes.
Fedor Zhuravlev
Died November 19, 2015 while performing combat mission in Syria.
The officer ensured the guidance of air-launched cruise missiles at the positions of the terrorists, the details of his death are unknown.
A school near Bryansk was named after a Russian officer who died in Syria.
Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov
Died November 24, 2015.
A Su-24M front-line bomber was shot down by a Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter in Syrian airspace. The pilots managed to eject, but fire was opened on them from the ground. The navigator of the downed bomber, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued by special forces of the Russian Armed Forces and the Syrian army. Awarded with the Order Courage. By decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. The name of the pilot will be assigned new school Lipetsk №100. An aviation museum will be created in it. On June 12, a monument to Oleg Peshkov was opened in the Amur region.
Alexander Pozynich
On November 24, 2015, helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces took off in search of the pilots of the downed Su-24M bomber, during the operation one of them (Mi-8AMTSh) was damaged by shelling from the ground. On board, a marine contract soldier, sailor Alexander Pozynich, died.
Sailor Alexander Pozynich (posthumously) was awarded the Order of Courage.
School No. 11 of the city of Novocherkassk, where Pozynich studied, will be named after him.
Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Cheremisin
On February 1, 2016, as a result of a mortar attack by ISIS terrorists, one of the formations of the Syrian army was fatally wounded.
The officer performed tasks to assist the Syrian army in the development of new weapons.
The soldier was posthumously nominated for a state award.
Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko
He died on March 24, 2016 while carrying out the task of directing Russian aircraft strikes at the targets of ISIS terrorists in the area of the village of Tadmor.
"The serviceman died heroically, causing fire on himself, after he was discovered by terrorists and surrounded."
On April 11, 2016, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
The authorities of Orenburg decided to name one of the streets of the city after Prokhorenko.
Sergeant Anton Erygin
On May 5, he was seriously injured in the Syrian province of Homs while performing tasks to escort cars of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties and died in the hospital two days later.
Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
Andrey Timoshenkov
June 15, 2016 in the province of Homs prevented a breakthrough to the place of issue humanitarian aid car bombed. In the explosion of a suicide-driven car, Timoshenkov received an injury incompatible with life and died on June 16.
Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
Junior Sergeant Mikhail Shirokopoyas
He was injured in a mine explosion in the province of Aleppo.
The serviceman underwent an operation in Moscow, but he died on June 7, 2016 at the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after M.V. N.N. Burdenko.
Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.
Ryafagat Khabibulin
Evgeny Dolgin
Ryafagat Khabibulin and Evgeny Dolgin
On July 8, 2016, Russian instructor pilots flew over a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter with ammunition.
Having broken through the defenses east of Palmyra, a large detachment of ISIS militants attacked the positions of the Syrian troops and rapidly advanced deep into the area.
The crew of the Mi-25 decided to attack the terrorists. Having used up ammunition, the helicopter, while turning back, was hit by fire from the ground and fell in an area controlled by the Syrian government army.
Both crew members were killed.
Military personnel presented to high state awards posthumously.
Nikita Shevchenko
At the end of July, he accompanied a convoy with food and water for local residents. Died as a result of an improvised explosive device planted by militants at the entrance to locality in the province of Aleppo.
Posthumously presented to the state award.
Roman Filipov
Roman Filipov/Ok.ruOn February 3, 2018, in the sky over the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-25SM attack aircraft was shot down, on board of which Major Roman Filipov was. After the plane was hit in the right wing, the pilot tried to maneuver and leave the affected area, but the control of the plane was disrupted. Filipov ejected, having managed to report his decision to the command.
Later communication with the pilot was lost. According to preliminary data from the Russian Federation, the plane was shot down by a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS). Responsibility for the downed attack aircraft and the death of the pilot was taken by the militants of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, created at the base (banned in Russia). According to other information, the plane was shot down by militants of the Jaysh al-Nasr group (banned in Russia).
The day after the incident, a video appeared on the Internet, which allegedly depicted Filipov's last fight. In the video, armed men first run towards some object on the ground, and then bounce off it, after which an explosion is seen, and the words “This is for the boys!”, Presumably, belonged to Filipov himself, are clearly audible. In order not to surrender, he blew himself up with a hand grenade, shooting two attackers from Stechkin's service pistol.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the body of the deceased pilot was returned to Russia on February 3 by Russian military intelligence in cooperation with Turkish colleagues.
On February 8, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense said goodbye to Filipov at the Chkalovsky military airfield near Moscow, reports.
“Major Filipov fulfilled his military duty with honor, remained faithful to his oath, sacrificed himself in the fight against the enemy, and thus put himself in the first rank of the best defenders of the Fatherland,” said Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov.
Earlier, the head of the military department presented the deceased to the title of Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously.
On February 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Filipov this title. “For heroism, courage and courage shown in the performance of military duty, to award the title of Hero of the Russian Federation to Major Roman Nikolayevich Filipov (posthumously),” the decree says.
Filipov was an experienced aviator and this was not the first time he was on a business trip in Syria, the Defense Ministry said. The major brilliantly completed dozens of combat missions against terrorists and repeatedly accompanied the humanitarian convoys of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties (CPVS). During his last flight, Filipov flew over the Idlib de-escalation zone to monitor compliance with the ceasefire.
Wikimedia Commons
On November 24, 2015, a Turkish fighter shot down a Russian Su-24M bomber in the Syrian province of Latakia, a kilometer from the border with Turkey. The aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces performed a combat mission in Syria. According to the Turkish side, he flew into Turkish airspace, after which two Turkish F-16 fighters flew to intercept him. According to Ankara, after a series of warnings, the Turkish pilot opened fire to kill and shot down the Russian plane. According to Moscow, the Su-24 did not violate Turkish airspace and was shot down by the Turkish military in violation of all norms.
There were two pilots in the Su-24: the crew commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, and the navigator. Both of them managed to eject, but only Murakhtin managed to escape. Peshkov was shot from machine guns by local militants while he was still in the air. After landing, Murakhtin hid from opponents looking for him for about a day, after which he was found by the Syrian military and taken to a Russian air base.
While trying to save the Russian pilots who were in the downed Su-24, another Russian military man died - a marine who took part in the search and rescue operation.
On the day of the Su-24 crash, helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces flew out to search for the pilots, and one of them, the Mi-8, on board of which Pozynich was, was fired upon by militants from the ground.
On November 25, 2015, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia, and Marine Alexander Pozynich, also posthumously, was awarded the Order of Courage. Navigator Konstantin Murakhtin, who survived the Su-24 crash, received the same order.
Marat Akhmetshin
Wikimedia Commons
In June 2016, Russian artillery captain Marat Akhmetshin died in Palmyra, Syria. According to RBC, he was the intelligence chief of the headquarters of the howitzer self-propelled artillery battalion of the 9th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Western Military District.
According to the Ministry of Defense, on that day a large detachment of militants of the Islamic State (ISIS, an organization banned in Russia) attacked the positions of the Syrian government army and, breaking through the defenses, rapidly moved inland. There were no reserve units of the Syrian troops to deter the IS offensive at that time in that direction, and the militants could capture strategically important heights.
The crew of the Mi-35, commanded by Khabibullin, received a request for fire damage on the advancing militants, and the colonel decided to attack the terrorists. As a result of the actions of the helicopter crew, the terrorist offensive was thwarted.
However, when the crew used up ammunition, the terrorists knocked it out from the ground. Mi-35 crashed in an area controlled by the Syrian army, both pilots were killed.
After the helicopter crash, Putin posthumously awarded Khabibullin the title of Hero of Russia, Dolgin posthumously received the Order of Courage. According to colleagues, Khabibullin was one of the most experienced Russian military pilots: he fought in Chechnya, in Georgia in 2008, trained dozens of other combat pilots as an instructor, and received many awards.
Alexander Prokhorenko
Alexander Prokhorenko
Wikimedia Commons25-year-old special forces officer Alexander Prokhorenko died in Syria in March 2016. When performing a combat mission to direct air strikes against terrorists in the Palmyra region, he was surrounded and caused fire on himself. By Putin's decree, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. The funeral of the officer took place in his native village of Gorodki, Tulgansky district, Orenburg region, on May 6, 2016.
Having learned about the feat of Prokhorenko, the British tabloid The Daily Mirror called him "Russian Rambo".
Brave Russian commando on a solo Rambo-style mission to hunt IS militants dies heroically after triggering an airstrike on himself.
Left behind a mother, a father, younger brother and a pregnant wife. For more than two months, relatives have been waiting for the body of their loved one to be delivered to their homeland.
At the request of the Russian side, after difficult negotiations with the jihadists, Kurdish militants were able to return his remains.
Our military in Syria accomplished a feat. For about two days they held back the terrorists, who were almost 20 times more. And they forced them to retreat, ending this battle themselves without loss. Details became known today, May 10. There are not many of them, but they are from the participants in the operation, which is strictly classified.
Only names and titles. No call signs, no surnames, no details by which it would be possible to identify the officers, this is the main condition for interviews with journalists. All four from the Special Operations Forces - an elite unit Russian army, and, judging by the order bars, all with a rich track record. One of the officers, for example, has the Order of Courage, two medals "For Combat Distinction", an award "For Military Valor".
The Special Operations Forces is a unique unit. Combination combat experience, the latest weapons and equipment, fine calculation and dedication. Their forte is sabotage and reconnaissance operations. They are where the enemy least expects a strike. In Syria, this unit is used for reconnaissance and targeting aviation.
On that day, the officers say, everything was as usual - they secretly went to the front line in the province of Aleppo, entrenched themselves, began to transmit the coordinates of the targets, when militants suddenly attacked them.
“Massive shelling of our positions began, Grad installations, artillery, mortars, tank shelling were used,” the soldier said.
It was a real fiery flurry, the military recalls. Due to internal inconsistency in actions, the Syrian units withdrew. The commander of our group had a few seconds to make a decision.
“Due to the fact that the terrain, shelters made it possible to fight and this piece of terrain was of strategic importance, we took up defensive positions and accepted the battle. We repulsed the first attack, there were still three or four attacks during the day, ”the officer said.
“The density of the fire was high, but, as they say, it’s scary only in the first minutes, and then it’s already a banal routine,” another soldier said.
16 of our fighters held back the onslaught of about 300 fighters for almost two days. Precise fire destroyed an enemy tank, two infantry fighting vehicles and a so-called "shahid-mobile" stuffed with explosives with a suicide bomber inside.
“Ahead is an armored bulldozer, followed by an infantry fighting vehicle stuffed with explosives. The operator of the first missile hit the infantry fighting vehicle, the explosion was very strong, as a result, the bulldozer ahead was out of order, ”said the military man.
The losses among the militants were so serious that after a dozen unsuccessful attacks they retreated. There are no losses among us. After inspecting the battlefield, it turned out that they were terrorists from Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in our country, most likely professional mercenaries.
“They were very carefully equipped, everything was imported - property, all medicine was imported, clothing was imported, and up to black military personnel. And how they behaved on the battlefield showed that they were well prepared,” the officer said.
“GoPro on their heads, on helmets. Apparently, reports are being submitted somewhere about the work done, ”the military man noted.
“We have a good advantage in armament and well-trained guys who are not afraid. We fought and clearly fulfilled the tasks set by me, only thanks to these factors it turned out that we came out without losses, ”the officer said.
After a business trip to Syria, the officers received a short vacation, and their dream came true - they visited the Parade in honor of Victory Day on Red Square. Vladimir Putin also spoke about the feat of the Russian military today on May 9 at the Victory Parade in Moscow:
“We feel a blood, piercing kinship with the generation of heroes and winners, and, addressing them, I will say: you will never be ashamed of us. The Russian, Russian soldier, even today, as at all times, showing courage and heroism, is ready for any feat, for any sacrifice for the sake of his homeland, for the sake of his people.
At the Ministry of Defense building on Frunzenskaya Embankment, the military laid flowers at the monument to the heroes of the cult film "Officers" - the sculptural composition recreates one of the key scenes dedicated to the continuity of military generations. Two comrades meet after a long separation. They are saluted by the grandson of one of them - a cadet of the Suvorov Military School.
All servicemen of the Special Operations Forces, who distinguished themselves in battle in the province of Aleppo, are presented with high state awards. Group commander - to the title of Hero of Russia.
On the submission of the Ministry of Defense, the president wrote: “I agree. I'll give it to you personally."
