The Ukrainian sniper believed to have killed a Russian officer from a record distance of 2.4 miles is a 58-year-old former businessman, who had already begun packing his rifle when the bullet hit the target.
Vyacheslav Kovalskiy’s 12,468-foot shot on Nov. 18 traveled beyond the length of two Brooklyn bridges in about 9 seconds to kill the enemy soldier, according to footage of the incident reviewed by The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
“I was thinking that the Russians would now know that that’s what the Ukrainians are capable of doing,” the previously unidentified sniper told the outlet in his first media interview.
“Let them stay home and be afraid.”
Kovalskiy and his “spotter,” both members of the military counterintelligence division of the Ukrainian Security Service, initially observed Russian soldiers chopping firewood, but considered them too low-ranking to shoot, according to the outlet.
Then a group of other soldiers appeared and the Ukrainians noticed that one of them was an officer giving orders.
The Ukrainian sniper took out a Russian soldier nearly 2½ miles away with a high-tech rifle known as the “Horizon’s Lord.” SBU The Ukrainian sniper believed to have killed a Russian officer from a record distance of 2.4 miles is a 58-year-old former businessman. UkraineToday24 / Youtube Vyacheslav Kovalskiy had already started packing his rifle when his bullet hit its target. UkraineToday24 / Youtube The “observer” simply said “You can do it” and Kovalskiy fired. UkraineToday24 / Youtube
Kovalskiy had been motionless for hours in near-freezing temperatures when he received the order to fire at his target nearly 2½ miles away.
“You can,” his observer indicated.
The sniper got the go-ahead after his colleague used a laser to measure distance and specialized software and weather data to calculate the effects of wind, humidity, temperature and even the curvature of the Earth.
The wind was projected to alter the bullet’s trajectory by about 200 feet.
After a test shot 1,000 feet to the side of the target revealed that they had made a mistake with the wind speed, Kovalskiy reset, reloaded and fired his bullet, half a foot long and 6.2 inches, at a velocity of 960 mph.
“You have to [shoot] immediately because the wind changes constantly,” Kovalskiy explained to the outlet.
This time his goal was to hit the target, breaking the old record for a fatal shot by more than 850 feet, Ukraine said.
Traveled beyond the length of two Brooklyn Bridges in about 9 seconds to kill enemy soldier UkraineToday24/YouTube
But before it was confirmed on the field that he had hit the target, Kovalskiy said, he was already packing up his rifle, a Ukrainian-made Volodar Obriyu, which translates to “Lord of the Horizon.”
Neither Ukraine nor Kovalskiy revealed the geographic location of the gunshot that was heard around the world.
While it was celebrated as a much-needed morale boost for Ukraine as its counteroffensive stalled, some in the sniping community are still skeptical of the alleged feat.
Some snipers and ballistics experts interviewed by The Journal said the shot was possible but very difficult to execute.
“For the conventional sniper, there are so many variables that are difficult to quantify, so the reality is anything above 1,300 meters. [about 4,265 feet] “It may be more luck than skill,” said Steve Walsh, a former U.S. Marine sniper instructor.
American ballistics expert Brad Millard told the newspaper that the nine-second timing of the shot’s trajectory in the video was accurate.
Kovalskiy and his “spotter” initially observed the Russian soldiers chopping wood, but considered them too low range to shoot, according to the outlet. AFP via Getty Images Neither Ukraine nor Kovalskiy revealed the geographical location of the shot that was heard around the world. AFP via Getty Images
But Millard said he doubts Ukraine knows for certain that the officer was killed, a point Kovalskiy refutes, citing the size and velocity of his bullet.
“There’s no chance he survived,” Kovalskiy said of the shot, which appeared to hit the man right in the torso, according to the footage.
The sniper, who has won long-distance shooting competitions in Europe and North America, questioned why some in the international community were skeptical about his deadly shot when stationary targets had been hit at similar distances in the King of Two contest. NRA Miles in New Mexico. .
Kovalskiy enlisted as a sniper on the first day of the Russian invasion last year and reportedly has no qualms about killing Kremlin fighters.
“I don’t care one bit,” the man said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn