'It's a miracle I'm still alive' says Ukrainian sniper fighting in south-east

Record ID: 1729706

  • Title: 'It's a miracle I'm still alive' says Ukrainian sniper fighting in south-east
  • Date: 15th June 2023
  • Summary: NEAR ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE (JUNE 15, 2023) (REUTERS) UKRAINIAN ARMY SNIPER, NOM-DE-GUERRE ‘DEATH’, 37-YEARS-OLD, LOOKING THROUGH VIEWFINDER AT SHOOTING RANGE 'DEATH' ADJUSTING FOCUS ON TELESCOPIC SIGHT 'DEATH' LOADING AMMUNITION MAGAZINE 'DEATH' ADJUSTING SNIPER RIFLE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN ARMY SNIPER, NOM-DE-GUERRE ‘DEATH’, 37-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "It's a great miracle that I'm still alive. Where we were fighting before and recently left, one does not live long. Everything depends only on your luck, you can find yourself anywhere at any time. Even here (at Zaporizhzhia south-eastern frontline) we are living in the villages, enemy aircraft are constantly dropping heavy missiles on us. We have a house and there is a basement, where theoretically it is possible to hide from shelling. But the craters that remain from the rocket are deeper than this basement. A rocket hit 150 metres away from me five days ago, it tore our car to shreds, there was a crater like that. What is 150 metres to a rocket shot from a long distance?" SNIPERS FIRING SHOTS AT SHOOTING RANGE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN ARMY SNIPER, NOM-DE-GUERRE ‘DEATH’, 37-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "...Let's say, to shoot and hit a target from a distance of 600-800 metres - is nothing. In fact, at some point right after the first shot, you have no idea what happened. A day passes, and you start to understand what happened, and then you don’t really feel anything." 'DEATH' LOADING AMMUNITION SHOT FIRED THROUGH BARREL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN ARMY SNIPER, NOM-DE-GUERRE ‘DEATH’, 37-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "You come, lie down somewhere in the forest stretch, lie down, and watch for days. That is, you do not move at all. Wildlife crawls over you, they bite you, they gnaw at you, you can't move. That is, it is very intense. You need to have patience and endurance to reach the moment that you can fire a straight shot." SOLDIER FIRING SHOT, RELOADING VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS FIRING SHOTS INSTRUCTOR OVERLOOKING WITH BINOCULARS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SNIPING INSTRUCTOR, NOM-DE-GUERRE 'CHECHEN', 36-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "(Sniper training) can take from one to three months. Our sped-up training course takes one month. But to properly teach a sniper, one needs at least two to three months." SNIPERS LYING ON GROUND, FIRING SHOTS RIFLE BARREL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SNIPING INSTRUCTOR, NOM-DE-GUERRE 'CHECHEN', 36-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "We're different from other soldiers in that we don't hurry anywhere, we don't do any quick movements. We're slow." SNIPER FIRING SHOTS 'CHECHEN' SHOWING WEAPON / (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SNIPING INSTRUCTOR, NOM-DE-GUERRE 'CHECHEN', 36-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "To reload it, I have to do it myself... it all takes time, it slows us down." WEAPON ON GROUND, SOLDIERS IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS FIRING SHOTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN ARMY SNIPER, NOM-DE-GUERRE ‘DEATH’, 37-YEARS-OLD, SAYING: "When the full-scale war began (February 24, 2022), we defended the city of Kharkiv ourselves. I am from Kharkiv, I was there. Well, I got into a unit. At first, for the first six months, I was a driver-gunner. Subsequently, after we started to go to the shooting ranges, to engage in shooting - I had never shot a weapon before in civilian life - I discovered high-precision shooting. That is, well, my shooting was good enough, I have good eyesight. Well, weapons were tough to get at the beginning of the war, especially sniper rifles. I subsequently acquired my own personal weapon. There were instructors who helped me learn to shoot. I mostly trained on my own.” PATCH ON UNIFORM SOLDIERS FIRING SHOTS ‘DEATH’ WALKING WITH RIFLE ON SHOULDER
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2023 15:48
  • Keywords: counter-offensive defence sniper south Ukraine war in Ukraine
  • Location: NEAR ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE
  • City: NEAR ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001024115062023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A Ukrainian Army Sniper with the nom-de-guerre ‘Death’ said it was a "miracle" that he was still alive as he took a break on Thursday (June 15) from fighting on the south-eastern frontline near Zaporizhzhia.
    "Where we were fighting ... one does not live long. Everything depends only on your luck," said the 37-years-old sniper.
    He told Reuters that his unit is under constant missile attacks at Zaporizhzhia south-eastern frontline.
    "A rocket hit 150 metres away from me five days ago, it tore our car to shreds."
    ‘Death’ joined snipers training on Thursday (June 15) at an undisclosed location near Zaporizhzhia.
    36-year-old sniping instructor with nom-de-guerre 'Chechen' said it takes at least two to three months to properly teach a sniper.
    Ukraine's military said on Thursday it had regained control of over 100 square km (38 square miles) of territory in a counteroffensive against Russian forces and Kyiv added Ukraine's forces had advanced on key sectors of the front line.
    (Production: Sergiy Chalyi, Felix Hoske, Olga Vyshnevska)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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