The Ghosts of Bakhmut: Elite team of Ukrainian snipers made 524 Russian ‘kills’ during night raids
A Ukrainian sniper team called The Ghosts of Bakhmut has killed 524 Russian soldiers in the past six months.
The leader of the 20-strong unit, whose secret call sign is Ghost, personally accounted for 76 enemy troops during that period.
The team uses the same rifle as the British Special Forces and some of the Ghosts are trained by the UK’s best snipers. The youngest member of the team is known as ‘Brit’ for that reason.
All of their kills are verified using video footage recorded by their night vision goggles. The snipers also operate in silence, so their high-value targets don’t get a chance to take cover.
The shocking figures came forward in a BBC report yesterday.
The leader of the 20-strong unit, whose secret call sign is Ghost, personally held 76 enemy troops responsible during that period
Kuzia, who was a factory worker before the war, said: ‘I can’t tell you, it’s not right. It’s nothing to be proud of’
The totals attributed to the Ghosts, particularly their commanding officer, are comparable to some of the most prolific snipers of all time.
During four tours of Iraq, US Navy Seal Chris Kyle was credited with more than 160 kills. In Vietnam, an American sniper Adelbert Waldron reached 109 in eight months.
In World War II, a Finnish sniper code-named White Death reportedly committed over 500 kills in 100 days against the Soviet Red Army.
Speaking to the BBC, Ghost said: ‘We’ve had good results in this sector and brought terror (to the Russians) in Bakhmut. You can hide from artillery, but not from snipers.
“They (the Russians) came here to our country. We are liberating that country. My gun has never let me down, it never fails.
“Each journey (mission) can be our last. But we are doing a noble deed.’
The Ghosts operate at night and usually approach their targets on foot to make less noise.
The sniper and his spotter often have to wait several hours for a target to appear in their night vision sights. Their missions require breathtaking courage, as Russian artillery shells often explode near where they deploy.
But if they move, they risk being spotted or running into nearby minefields. The two-man teams retreat the next morning and are driven back to their secret base.
The camp is within range of Russian artillery and nearby roads are littered with the wreckage of bombed vehicles.
Aerial view shows destroyed buildings due to heavy fighting during the Russian invasion in Bakhmut, Ukraine
Not all Ghosts are so comfortable sharing their kill numbers with others. Another member of the team, Kuzia, who was a factory worker before the war, said: ‘I can’t tell you, it’s not right. It’s nothing to be proud of.
When I was a civilian, I didn’t like guns. But now I have had to take up arms to defend my country,” he said. “Of course I am afraid, only a fool would not be.”
Ukrainian forces have made significant territorial gains around Bakhmut in recent months and the Ghosts, armed with US-made Barrett sniper rifles, have played a key role.
But the city itself, which has symbolic rather than strategic value for both sides, has been almost completely destroyed. So much so that Ghost calls the front line running through Bakhmut “the edge of existence.”
It comes after Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih yesterday, the day after Ukraine’s president warned attacks on Russia were “inevitable.”
A young girl was one of at least five killed in the city. On Sunday, Zelensky said attacks on Russian soil were a “natural and absolutely fair process” in the war.