A Ukrainian sniper, codenamed Alpha, made an incredible shot killing a Russian commander from over a mile away, according to a Ukrainian officer.
The shot was taken near the embattled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine where Russian forces have been fighting to hold on after finally taking the town in May.
The sniper is part of a 12-man sharpshooter team known as the “ghost force” targeting Russian troops in the area.
The Russian commander was reportedly visiting his soldiers on the frontlines when he was spotted by a Ukraine drone – that’s when Alpha took the shot from 5,900 feet away.
“Our team saw him and he was eliminated, I’m told it was very difficult. This is the longest sniper kill that we have made since the invasion and it is a capability that frightens the enemy,” a Ukrainian officer told the Daily Star.
He continued: “After the shot the Russians were clearly very spooked by our ability. Many conscripts are deserting.”
The shot was taken from 1.1 miles away, making it one of the longest-distance kills of the war.
In November 2022, a Ukrainian National Guardsman killed a Russian soldier from 1.68 miles away – the third longest combat kill ever recorded, according to Ukraine’s Office of Strategic Communications.
An unnamed Canadian soldier holds the longest sniper kill ever recorded at 2.2 miles. That kill was made during the Iraq War in 2017.
In April 2012, an unnamed Australian soldier killed an enemy in Afghanistan at 1.75 miles – the second-longest sniper kill ever.
The news comes as Ukraine presses a counter-offensive in the east of the country in the Donbas region and across the south in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts.
Kyiv’s forces are said to be making steady progress in the east in the areas around Bakhmut as they attempt to encircle Russian forces there.
