Eastern Ukraine – With additional U.S. funding for Ukraine suspended in Congress, the money Kiev currently has could only last a few months. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for the Ukrainian military to resort to more cost-effective means of defense against invading Russian forces, and one weapon that can be extremely cost-effective for any army is a sniper rifle in the hands of a sniper.
CBS News gained access to the secretive world of Ukraine’s elite snipers and recently watched American bullets from American rifles tear through the air near the front lines on a battlefield in eastern Ukraine.
The sniper unit was training. They always work in teams of two. A spotter checks the wind speed and range of the sniper, who then carefully adjusts his angle. Then, between heartbeats, he fires, hitting a target nearly a quarter of a mile away.
A Ukrainian sniper takes aim during a target exercise at an unknown location near the front line in the east of the country in early October 2023. CBS News
“Commissioner,” the sniper’s call sign, laughed and called it “very easy” as he walked toward the target to check his shot. His uncle was also a sniper. The commissioner told CBS News he once hit a target at 1,715 meters, which is just over a mile away.
Click here to view related media.
Click to expand
When asked why the work he and Ukraine’s other snipers do is so important to their country’s defense, the commissioner said that they “close the gaps where the infantry cannot reach… we liquidate top targets like Commanders and machine gunners.”
With progress along the war’s 600-plus mile front line slow, if not static, snipers have become even more valuable. Unlike high-tech warfare with high-flying drones and highly visible hardware, a sniper’s power is low-tech, low visibility and relatively low cost – killing high-value targets with a single bullet.
According to Ukraine’s drone unit, $40 million worth of Russian hardware was destroyed last month
Everything about snipers is secret, including the location where we observed them training. Even the identity of the elite troops is protected because they themselves represent valuable targets.
“An experienced sniper is invaluable,” the unit’s commander, Nikolai, told CBS News. “A tank is just a pile of metal and can be easily replaced, but it takes a lot of money and years to train a sniper.”
We asked the inspector what it’s like to look through a rifle scope at a target so far away, knowing he’s probably witnessing the last seconds of someone’s life.
“When I first started, I got an adrenaline rush from hunting,” he said. But now: “nothing.”
This hunt continues, with weapons made in both the United States and Ukraine. Many use American scopes and .338-caliber American rifles, and the unit told CBS News that 90% of its ammunition also comes from the United States
Will Congress approve future aid to Ukraine?
The commissioner wears a US flag patch on his uniform.
“The Americans helped Ukraine a lot and taught me a lot,” he said. “I wear this as a sign of respect.”
The White House has said that aid already provided to Ukraine should last a few more months, and President Biden has called allied leaders to say he is confident of bipartisan U.S. support for the Ukraine will continue.
More Ramy Inocencio