Pair of Ukrainian snipers ‘pick off 22 Russian soldiers in one night using thermal imaging sights’
A pair of Ukrainian snipers are said to have committed as many as 22 murders in just one night as they defended a position in the disputed Donetsk region.
Footage showed the thermal imaging scope used in the crack shots showing Russian soldiers through a wooded area.
The warm bodies were illuminated by the thermal telescope as they stood out like torches against an otherwise dark, grainy background in the frigid Ukrainian winter.
One by one, the occupiers were picked off by the exceptional marksmanship of Kiev’s soldiers, who fired at their enemies from a distance of about 700 meters.
It is believed the snipers were equipped with German-made Haenel HLR 338 rifles, a shipment of which was delivered to Ukraine in December after a months-long campaign by Kiev officials.
The Haenel rifles fire .338 caliber Lapua Magnum bullets and are known for their accuracy over long distances thanks to their minimal recoil and adjustable stock.
Footage discovered earlier this month showed the thermal imaging scope used in the crack shots revealing Russian soldiers rushing through a wooded area
One by one, the occupiers were crushed by the exceptional marksmanship of the Kiev soldiers, who eliminated their enemies one by one at a distance of about 700 meters.
Ukrainian Army snipers practice shooting at a shooting range near a front line, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, December 23, 2023
The clip, released by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (GUR) and shared by the Telegram channel Butusov Plus, caused quite a stir, not least because of the thermal telescopes so skillfully used by the snipers to shoot down the Russian attackers to beat.
Apart from their excellent marksmanship, the snipers were only able to neutralize the Russian threat thanks to thermal imaging technology designed and produced by the Ukrainian company Archer.
Archer has provided Ukraine’s armed forces with a large number of highly effective telescopes, rangefinders, sights and other imaging technologies – invaluable equipment to Kiev’s soldiers repelling the Russian invasion.
But late last year, its CEO, Oleksandr Yeremenko, claimed that his company’s production, maintenance and repair processes were disrupted by government officials who searched the factories for evidence of embezzlement.
In a statement published in October, Ukraine’s anti-graft agency NABU said Archer had signed a number of contracts to supply the armed forces with thermal imaging equipment at a total cost of almost 1.5 billion hryvnia – about £31 million.
“Despite this, there was a violation of the delivery time by more than nine months, which led to the armed forces receiving the equipment they need to fight Russian aggression with significant delays,” NABU said, adding that this is what drove them gave to search Archer. offices.
But the news angered several Ukrainian military observers, some of whom in turn accused the anti-graft organization of being infiltrated by Russian agents.
A view shows an optical sight on a rifle of a Ukrainian Army sniper at a shooting range near a front line, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, December 23, 2023
Ukrainian Army snipers practice shooting at a shooting range near a front line, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, December 23, 2023
One such military analyst, Oleksandr Kovalenko, speculated that NABU was trying to find schematics and details of Archer products to pass on to Russia in the hope that cloaking devices and other countermeasures could be developed.
This weekend amid reports that Russian military manufacturers have successfully developed lightweight “invisibility cloaks” – suits that dampen the wearer’s thermal signature, making them harder to see with thermal telescopes.
“I’m not alluding to anything, but in October 2023 the data on Archer’s developments was copied, and in January 2024 the Russians will have their first ‘invisible cloaks,'” Kovalenko wrote in a message yesterday.
“In general, this is all strange. It appears that the main supplier of products for Ukraine’s top snipers, who shoot intruders like wild animals, is under investigation.
‘A few months after the searches, it turns out that the enemy has equipment to counter Archer’s products.
‘That’s how we live. This is how we fight…” he concluded.