He toured with the leading bands of the Russian Armed Forces in Austria, Sweden, United States, Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Finland, France, Switzerland, and Belgium.

Khalilov retired from the Moscow Garrison Orchestra on 22 August 2016, and conducted Russian civil war song White Army, Black Baron on the Red Square as his last major performance with the massed bands.

He was replaced by Colonel Timofey Mayakin, a Merited Artist of Russia, in his role as Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service.

[2][3] Khalilov died in the crash of the RA-85572 Tupolev TU-154 plane that went down in the Black Sea off Sochi on 25 December 2016 with the choir and dance arm of the ensemble, scheduled to perform for Russian troops stationed in Syria as part of New Year celebrations.

He was given a military funeral that was attended by many of his past and former colleagues and students, and eulogies were given by many including his successor as senior director of music, Colonel Mayakin.

Khalilov was an accomplished musician and conductor, able to play many types of musical instruments, including the piano, with proficiency, and to conduct both choirs and bands.

When he was appointed conductor of the Massed Bands of the Moscow Garrison, he worked hard to reorganize and rebuild it, to the point that it had a more prominent feature than before in the Victory Day parades.

During the Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival and Tattoo, Khalilov would sometimes conduct all the participants as they played the final song during the closing ceremony.

"Khalilov was also an accomplished music composer apart from being a military conductor, and wrote many pieces for the brass band including "Adagio", "Kant", "Afghan", "Elegy", marches such as "Cadet", "Youth", "Rynda", "Ulan", as well as romances and songs.

Social activists of the city have also decided to establish a festival of brass bands in memory of Khalilov, which is to be held in the newly opened Alexander Garden.