[2][3][4] Upon completing the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School, he was posted at the air base in the village of Chernigovka, Primorsky Krai, (200 km (120 mi) north of Vladivostok) in the Russian Far East.

[3] On 3 February 2018, during the Syrian Civil War, Filipov was flying a Sukhoi Su-25 accompanied [5] by another Su-25 at an altitude of about 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) on a routine patrol mission over the province of Idlib.

[6] Uploaded videos showed the jet was part of a two-ship formation flying at low-to-medium altitude, with the downed aircraft separating and diving to perform a rocket attack.

[10] Filipov's body was repatriated to Russia on 6 February 2018, where he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation via presidential decree.

[11][citation needed] Filipov was buried on 8 February 2018, at the Alley of Glory of the Kominternovskoye Cemetery in Voronezh, Russia with thousands of people in attendance.