Credit: Telegram/ButusovPlus
A Ukrainian sniper has killed two Russian soldiers with a single bullet from a distance of 2.5 miles (4,000m), in what is believed to be a record for the longest shot by a marksman.
The sniper, from Ukraine’s elite Pryvyd (“Ghost”) unit, used a 14.5mm calibre Snipex Alligator rifle.
Footage shows two Russians collapsing inside an occupied building between the cities of Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk after being struck, according to local media reports.
The video was published by Yurii Butusov, a Ukrainian journalist, who wrote on Telegram: “Incredible accuracy and a new world record for the longest range!
“During the year of performing combat missions in the defence of [Donetsk region], almost 1,000 servicemen of the Russian armed forces have already been destroyed!”
Mr Butusov reported that the shot was made with the support of unmanned drone and artificial intelligence (AI) systems on Aug 14.
The strike comes as Russian forces intensify attacks around Pokrovsk in what analysts have described as one of the fiercest battles of the war.
Moscow has stepped up operations around the city and in the wider Donetsk region, which Vladimir Putin is hoping to secure in full during peace negotiations, despite not occupying it in full.
If confirmed, the unnamed shooter will have surpassed the record set by Vyacheslav Kovalsky, a fellow Ukrainian, in November 2023.
Mr Kovalsky, then 58, killed a Russian soldier from 3,800m using a Ukrainian-made “Lord of the Horizon” rifle.
At the time, the Ukrainian special forces said their fighters were “rewriting the rules of global sniping”.
Prior to that, the record was held by a Canadian sniper who shot an Islamic State fighter in Iraq from 3,540m in 2017.
Before that, the world record was held by Craig Harrison, a British sniper, who shot down a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2009 from a distance of 2,478m.
The two-metre Alligator rifle used in the latest feat was designed as an anti-materiel weapon, intended to destroy enemy military hardware rather than kill soldiers. Its official range is 2,000m, half the distance of the recent shot.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, Ukraine has become a testing ground for military innovation.
Sniper teams now operate with the assistance of drones and AI software, pushing technology beyond its intended limits as Ukraine struggles with ammunition and equipment shortages.
“Real-life experience has shown not only completely different requirements, but also the actual capabilities of Ukrainian weapons, which have far exceeded their creators’ expectations,” wrote Defence Express, a Ukrainian publication.
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