A Ukrainian sniper peers through the scope of his rifle. Half a mile away,
a Russian armored vehicle rolls down a dirt road. The shooter blinks hard to clear his
vision. He takes a deep breath and holds it to steady his aim. Before he squeezes the trigger,
he glances to the side at the device strapped to his arm to get a reading
on the wind speed and direction. At this distance, every variable counts. He runs
through a set of calculations in his head, adjusts his aim, and fires.
Seconds pass. The enemy vehicle begins to slow down and then comes to a complete stop. The sniper
looks through his scope and chuckles. The Russian vehicle is bellowing smoke. The incendiary round
he just fired smashed through the vehicle’s armor and ignited the fuel in its tank. Even from half a
mile away, he hit his mark dead on. He records his shot and the destruction of the vehicle,
packs up his rifle, and moves to the next target. This isn’t an unique story.
Ukrainian snipers have been wrecking havoc on the Russians since the start of the war,
and this isn’t the only way they’re making conscripts scared for their lives.
The scenario we just talked about is likely how one Ukrainian special forces
soldier managed to incapacitate a Russian armored vehicle in the summer of 2022. It
was an incredible shot that cost Russia an armored vehicle and Ukraine the price
of a bullet. Ukrainian military officials reported that the sniper hit the Russian
BMP-2 amphibious armored vehicle from a distance of around 754 meters or 2,500 feet.
The reason that this shot is so imprasive is because of the skills of the sniper,
the weapon used, and the armored piercing incendiary rounds that were used. The precise
shot hit the gas tank of the BMP-2, and the heat from the incendiary round caused the fuel to catch
fire. This particular vehicle was designed to carry troops into battle and provide fire
support once the soldiers were deployed. After the sniper’s shot, all that was left was scrap
metal. It’s not clear whether the Russian soldiers in the vehicle made it out alive,
but even if they did, the Ukrainian sniper would have been waiting for them.
The same sniper unit also took out another armored vehicle by hitting the engine compartment several
times with armor-piercing rounds. It may sound crazy, but this one Ukraninan sniper was able to
disable two Russian armored vehicles and take out several soldiers before falling back to resupply.
Think about what a massive blow to the Russian war effort that would be. Each
of the armored vehicles disabled by the sniper cost Russia hundreds of thousands
of dollars. And in a matter of seconds, they were rendered useless by a single sniper.
Russia has fallen back to the territory they already control in Ukraine to regroup and
resupply after suffering significant casualties at the hands of the Ukrainian military. One of
the main reasons that the Russian army is having such a hard time invading further into Ukraine is
because of Ukraine’s skilled snipers. Let’s take a look at some truly incredible accomplishments
achieved by these special forces units. Taking a tank out from 2,500 feet away is very impressive,
but there are other shots that have been made during the war that are even more remarkable.
Before we dive into some more insane Ukrainian sniper missions, we need to understand why their
snipers are so effective. The story of many of the soldiers causing so much havoc among
the Russian ranks might be more peculiar than you think. In fact, many of the sniper units
deployed across the country to stop the Russian invasion are made up of young people who felt
it was their duty to fight for their country. There are definitely snipers who were trained
as Ukrainian special forces, and they conduct most of the high-profile missions to take out
key targets, but there is another contingent of snipers that have also joined the fight.
Ukrainian men and women who left their homes to work in western Europe,
where there were more opportunities, came back to fight for their country
when the war started. Many Ukrainians felt it was their duty to take up arms
and defend their nation when Russia invaded. People still living within Ukraine’s border
quickly transitioned from their ordinary jobs and lives into becoming full-blown soldiers.
Obviously, not everyone had the skill set to become a sniper, but those who did came from
some surprising places. Engineers, students, and entrepreneurs raced back to Ukraine to
join in the war effort. In order to ramp up training, makeshift sniper ranges were
constructed outside of Kyiv where anyone who had proficiency with rifles or hunting could
be trained. These out-of-the-ordinary training tactics seemed to have worked,
as now Ukrainian snipers are one of the biggest threats Russian soldiers are facing.
Many of the volunteer snipers have honed their deadly skills through countless hours of trial
and error. Ukrainian military leaders head the war effort, but when snipers are out in the field,
they oftentimes need to make their own decisions. However, since the objective
of every soldier and civilian in Ukraine is to push the Russians out of their country,
the decision of whether to pull the trigger or not is almost always an easy one to make.
Ukrainians who have traveled from abroad to get back to their country and take up arms
against the Russian invasion forces have had to overcome numerous obstacles even before reaching a
training center. Just getting back into Ukraine is easier said than done. Due to Russian hostilities,
all flights into or out of the country have been grounded. The last thing that Ukraine
wants is for civilian passengers to be shot down by Russian missiles. And the truly terrible part
is that it wouldn’t be that surprising. Russia has already targeted numerous civilian structures and
vehicles and has killed indiscriminately as they try to push further into Ukraine.
This means Ukrainians who have come back to fight have had to fly into cities like Budapest and then
pay huge amounts of money to hire a driver to get them across the border so they can
enlist with the military. Sometimes they show up with their own rifles that were procured before
returning to Ukraine. One future volunteer sniper received a call from his mother on February 24,
2022. She told her son the war had started, and she could hear helicopters, airplanes,
and explosions all around her. It was at that point the young man decided he needed to return to
fight. He bought a U.S.-made sniper rifle, started training with a special forces instructor that
his friends connected him with, and then snuck into Ukraine to wage war against Russian forces.
Once back in the country, he reached Kyiv, where he formally enlisted in the military,
received expedited training, and joined a sniper unit. Ukraine is winning the war against Russia,
but they do not have access to all of the weapons and resources they need to push them out of the
country at the moment. This is why many volunteer snipers come to fight with their own equipment. A
large percentage of Ukrainians are familiar with rifles from engaging in hunting before
the war. Now those skills are being leveraged to create more deadly soldiers. Surprisingly,
some of the volunteer snipers have even cited their affinity for first-person
shooter video games as a driving force to becoming a volunteer sniper.
At this point, the Ukrainian military needs all the help it can get,
so using any skills that will aid the sniper in the training process is a must. However,
as almost every Ukrainian soldier fighting in the war has made clear,
they don’t want to kill people or shoot them with sniper rifles, even if they are Russian. It’s all
out of necessity. And that drive to secure their homeland from the Russians, combined with skills
learned from special forces sniper trainers, have led to some pretty incredible results for Ukraine.
Snipers need to have complete control of their bodies and senses in order to
be effective. They also need to have the skill set to use data from their scope and
monitors to adjust their aim to hit targets that are extremely far away. In training,
snipers are given charts that they’re drilled on to ensure they can make last-minute calculations
when they are in the field. To be more aware of their surroundings they wear headphones
made for hunters that suppress the noise of their rifles while amplifying any voices around them.
It’s the combination of pre-war skills, training,
and the weapons being used that make the Ukrainian snipers so deadly. But before we
tell you what gear these soldiers are using, let’s hear a few more incredible stories.
One Ukrainian sniper now holds the second-longest combat kill ever recorded. This soldier shot an
enemy from approximately 1.68 miles away. That is like trying to thread a needle with a microscopic
hole while being blindfolded. Needless to say, the Ukrainian sniper expertly sighted their target,
made all the right calculations, and hit their mark with deadly accuracy.
The longest kill shot ever recorded was made by a Canadian sniper in Iraq in 2017. This
soldier hit their target from 2.2 miles away. This is an unbelievable distance,
and the Canadian sniper must have been incredibly skilled. However,
hitting a target from over a mile and a half away is no small feat either. The video of the
kill shot from Ukraine shows the target using a night vision scope. The sniper lines up the shot,
fires, and after the rifle steadies from the recoil; the Russian soldier goes down.
The darkness of night is the Ukrainian sniper's best friend when they have night vision. The
body heat coming off Russian soldiers makes them easy to track and target. Also, darkness provides
cover for the Ukrainian snipers especially when they are firing from over a mile away.
Muzzle suppressors dampen the rifle's sound and flash, making the snipers all but undetectable.
One of the most incredible shots made thus far in the war definitely goes to this next sniper.
A video released by official Ukrainian military channels shows the sniper’s view through a their
scope as he hits two Russian targets with one bullet. The video itself isn’t high quality
due to the complications around setting up recording equipment for a scope. But what can
be seen are two blob-shaped figures that were Russians seemingly talking to one another. The
Ukrainian sniper aims his shot and waits for the perfect moment. After he fires and refocuses the
scope, both Russian soldiers have fallen down, signifying that they were both hit by the bullet.
But this isn’t the only astonishing shot that this sniper made. The Ukrainian military also
praised this same elite gunman for taking down five Russian troops in five minutes. He
was a part of the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine,
patrolling the Donetsk region when the unit came across Russian troops. This
particular engagement left three Russian soldiers dead and two wounded. And what’s
even crazier is that these shots were all made from over 4,000 feet away. There is
no denying that Ukraine currently has some of the most skilled snipers in the world.
Again, not all of these shooters went through extensive training by the military. Ukraine needs
all of the snipers they can muster, even if this means some of their ranks are filled with shooters
who have less traditional military experience than would be desired. But the Ukrainian snipers are
not just crack shots; they also play other major roles in the fight against Russia.
Snipers are constantly used for spotting Russian positions and then calling in
artillery or airstrikes. This means that shooting the gas tank or engine block of
vehicles is not the only way that Ukrainian snipers are taking out armored vehicles and
tanks. Snipers are also often trained in tactical medicine and drone use,
as these skills are oftentimes necessary to complete their mission objectives. Then again,
almost all Ukrainian soldiers are trained to use multiple weapons and tactics as they
have to constantly find ways to defeat an enemy that vastly outnumbers them.
However, snipers that can take out multiple targets with a single bullet or are able to
disrupt Russian convoys from long distances are one of the reasons why Ukraine is winning the war.
Now you might be wondering what type of sniper rifle do Ukrainian sharpshooters
favor. And although there are several different snipers being used by the Ukrainian military,
there is one that is more devastating than all the rest. The Snipex Alligator is a 55-pound,
79-inch rifle that packs a huge punch. The barrel alone is 47 inches long. When the
Alligator fires its .57 caliber bullet, it leaves the muzzle at
3,200 feet per second. This gives the Snipex Alligator an effective range of 23,000 feet.
The rifle has a 5-round detachable box magazine, which allows for quick reload
times. But as you can tell from the insane sniper shots made by Ukrainian soldiers,
they normally don’t need to expend all five rounds to hit their targets.
When examining the war in Ukraine right now, it seems that snipers may be one of the most
vital assets for disrupting Russian plans and tactics. The ability of Ukrainian soldiers to
hit targets from vast distances means that they can kill enemy soldiers and incapacitate Russian
armored vehicles without putting themselves in harm's way. This does not mean what they
do isn’t dangerous. Sniper units lay down covering fire to allow troops on the front lines to safely
fall back and are sometimes left vulnerable to enemy artillery and heavy weapons fire.
What snipers are doing in Ukraine is amazing and is definitely making a difference in the way this
war is going. However, if the Ukrainian military can’t secure more ammunition and weapons, it won’t
matter how good of shots their snipers are. This is why it’s imperative that NATO continues to
send Ukraine aid and resupply its military. As the winter months grow colder in Ukraine,
the fighting will slow down. However, there is no rest for the sniper units. Every week there
are more confirmed kills as Ukrainian forces hold the Russians at bay. As the ground begins to thaw,
we may see a renewed Russian offensive. And as long as the Ukrainian snipers have the
supplies they need, they will be there to stop whatever Russia throws at them.
Now watch “The White Death - Best Sniper in History.” Or check out
“This is How the Russian War in Ukraine Ends.”