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1 year ago
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A Ukrainian sniper claims to be a world record holder after picking off a Russian soldier from 2.36 miles away with a custom rifle called 'Lord of the Horizon'.
The unnamed sniper, who serves in Ukraine's security service (SBU), reportedly managed to beat the previous record of 2.2 miles, made by a Canadian special operations sniper in Iraq in 2017.
Video reportedly shows the Russian target falling several seconds after the SBU sniper took the shot.
A line of three stationary Russian soldiers quickly become a line of two, as the bullet takes the soldier out at the currently unknown location.
The SBU said: 'SBU snipers are rewriting the rules of global sniping, showcasing unparalleled abilities to operate effectively at remarkable distances.'
Video reportedly shows the Russian target falling several seconds after the SBU sniper took the shot
A line of three stationary Russian soldiers quickly become a line of two, as the bullet takes the soldier out
(File image) Ukraine's snipers are often sent in as the vanguard for planned counteroffensive manoeuvres, and are tasked with taking out high-value Russian targets before other military forces can come in
The Ukrainian military gave no other details about the incident, such as when or where it was filmed, not did it say how it had confirmed their sniper's effort.
'Lord of the Horizon' was developed and made by MAYAK, a Ukrainian arms manufacturer, and comes in at an enormous 6ft in length, the Firearms Blog reports.
With the correct ammunition, the rifle can fire bullets in such a way that they stay faster than the speed of sound for nearly 10,000 ft.
The shot comes after another Ukrainian sniper claimed to have executed the second-longest combat kill in history in 2022.
The unnamed sniper felled a Russian soldier at a distance of 2,710m – around 1.7 miles – according to Ukraine's military, which last year published what it claimed was footage of the shot looking down the sniper's scope.
Footage published last year by the Ukrainian armed forces of their kill showed an image of a man moving among trees before the shooter centres their crosshair on his chest.
Ukraine claimed in 2022 one of its snipers has taken out a Russian solider at 2,710m, which would be the second-longest ranged kill in combat if it is confirmed
A Canadian sniper previously held the record for the longest sniper kill on record at 11,614ft - while Briton Craig Harrison held the official second-place spot, before a Ukrainian sniper took it
The thermal sight was seen jumping upwards, indicating the rifle has been fired, before the figure dropped to the ground around three seconds later.
A second figure then came running over to the first in an apparent attempt to help his wounded comrade, before the sniper fired a second time.
Both figures then slumped to the ground.
The Ukrainian sharpshooter seemingly trumped a shot by British sniper Craig Harrison, who killed two Taliban fighters at a distance of 2,475m in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2009.
Afghan National Police confirmed he had killed two Taliban fighters when they visited the site of the shooting shortly afterwards to try and retrieve the militants' weapons.
An Apache helicopter fitted with a laser range-finder was then sent up over Corporal Harrison's firing position to measure the distance between the two points.
Harrison later said he took the shot using an L115A3 Long Range Rifle and conditions were 'perfect' at the time - no wind, mild weather, and good visibility.
In the case of the record-breaking Canadian shot, it is thought to have been caught on film by a Predator drone circling overhead at the time.
The Canadian military said the shot was taken by a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle fired from the upper floors of a high-rise building.
A report by news site SOFREP said the kill took place in Mosul, and that the shooter and his team had recently trained in long-range sniping.
They had been firing at increasing distances over the city for several days leading up to the record-breaking kill.
A second shot by the same sniper at a slightly shorter distance moments after the first missed its target, the site reported.
A separate record is held by another British sniper who killed six Taliban with a single bullet after it hit the trigger switch of a suicide vest the target was wearing.
The 20-year-old Lance Corporal, of the Coldstream Guards, pulled off the stunning shot in Kakaran, southern Afghanistan, in December 2013.
His shot travelled 850m to reach its target, but the same shooter had previously taken out a Taliban fighter at 1,340m.
Confirming military kills is a notoriously tricky business that largely relies on self-reporting by soldiers due to the difficulty of getting information from behind enemy lines during a conflict.
Over-reporting of casualties is therefore common and has plagued military tacticians throughout history.
Ukraine's snipers are often sent in as the vanguard for planned counteroffensive manoeuvres, and are tasked with taking out high-value Russian targets before other military forces can come in.
Kills made by the squad, which is named after their leader, are recorded electronically using the sights of their rifles
The unit's snipers often have to wait in one position for up to 16 hours a day, and have to be very well camouflaged
The commander of the already-legendary Ghosts of Bakhmut revealed that his unit's snipers often have to wait in a single position for up to 16 hours a day.
'It's nothing like American films that romanticise the work of snipers and show it as very glamorous.'
The commander, Ghost, who claims to have killed at least 113 Russian targets, said that most of the work the unit does is survival-based.
'You learn how to calculate, you do the maths. You learn how to camouflage yourself, you learn about the environment. You can shoot perfectly well, but if you can't survive, there is no value in that.'
'We work 24 hours a day, we don't differentiate between day or night. There are no weekends. You're totally exhausted, all the juices are squeezed out of you, and when you come back from a mission, you're a complete mess.'
English (US)