9 seconds to target – Ukrainian sniperopens up about his world record kill shot

Vyacheslav Kovalskyi, a 59-year-old businessman turned sniper specialist for Ukraine’s SBU Security Service military counter-intelligence spoke about his world record kill shot in a groundbreaking interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Kovalskyi and his spotter – a partner responsible for calculating distance, wind speed, and other crucial parameters – eliminated the Russian occupier from the astonishing distance of 3,800 meters.

The bullet took nine seconds to reach its target, said the WSJ.

The sniper team took positions across the river from the Russian military base in the Kherson Oblast. Braving freezing temperatures, the sniper lay still for several hours until he spotted an officer giving commands among the occupiers. After meticulous calculations by the spotter, Kovalskyi attempted a test shot about 300 meters from the target, but the bullet missed due to an inaccurate assessment of wind speed.

The second shot made the world record sniper kill. Kovalskyi believes the bullet hit the Russian invader in the chest or abdomen area, adding that surviving the hit would be impossible.

"I thought that now the Russians will know what Ukrainians are capable of," he said.

While the WSJ article notes that some snipers expressed skepticism about Kovalskyi's world record, the article features opinions from several snipers and ballistics experts who concede that the shot was theoretically possible with the equipment the Ukrainian used, though it would be exceedingly challenging due to uncontrollable variables.

Kovalsky used a Volodar Obriy rifle, with the barrel manufactured by the American company Bartlein Barrels, the sight being Japanese, and the rest being Ukrainian. The custom-made cartridge measured about 16 cm in length.

Kovalskyi has a decades-long history of success at long-distance shooting competitions in Europe and North America. In fact, he met his spotter at one such competition in Ukraine.

The SBU press service boasted on Nov. 18 that a specific service sniper had set a world record for a successful shot, eliminating a Russian occupant from an astounding distance of 3,800 meters, surpassing the previous world record of 3,540 meters.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine