(L) A Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces soldier trains with a sniper rifle. (R) A still from the footage of the claimed shot, released in November 2023.
Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu via Getty Images / Ukraine Special Forces
Ukraine claims one of its soldiers made the world’s longest sniper kill shot.The shot was taken 2.36 miles away from its Russian target, according to reports.If confirmed, the kill would be 0.2 miles further than the generally accepted record.
Ukraine’s Special Forces are claiming the world’s longest sniper kill, saying that a Ukrainian soldier took out a Russian combatant from 2.36 miles away, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
It’s not possible to verify the kill from the shared footage.
The video shows a grainy outdoor scene, with the targeted area highlighted in a circle, through which two figures can be glimpsed. Three shots then fire, with the two figures dropping down after the second shot. One appears to crawl away.
The sniper involved used the Ukraine-made Volodar Obriyu rifle — translating as “Horizon’s Lord” — for the shot, according to Interfax, citing Special Forces.
The unit did not offer further information, such as the date or location of the shot.
There is no universally verified list of longest sniper kills, though there are several generally accepted contenders.
If confirmed, this latest shot would be roughly 0.2 miles further than the previously claimed record, which was taken by an unnamed Canadian soldier in Iraq in 2017.
In 2022, another Ukrainian soldier was credited by the country’s armed forces with the world’s second-longest kill, from almost 1.7 miles away from its target.
Ukrainian snipers have gained an almost mythical status since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with one unit taking on the nickname the “Ghosts of Bakhmut.”
Their commander, who goes by the call sign “Ghost,” says he is responsible for 113 of the group’s 558 claimed kills, all in the space of nine months.
Business Insider could not independently verify the figures.
Although their work is often mythologized by the general public, it’s grueling, “Ghost” told Business Insider’s Alia Shoaib.
A sniper can wait up to 16 hours in one spot waiting for a target — with the crucial shot itself being only a small fraction of the skills needed, he said.
“It’s nothing like American films that romanticize the work of snipers and show it as very glamorous,” he said.