Ukraine’s Special Forces claim the world’s longest sniper kill, with a Ukrainian soldier taking out a Russian combatant from 2.36 miles away. According to Interfax-Ukraine, the shot was taken using a Ukraine-made Volodar Obriyu rifle, also known as “Horizon’s Lord.” However, there is no universally verified list of longest sniper kills, and it is not possible to verify the kill from the shared footage. The video shows a grainy outdoor scene with two figures glimpsed through a highlighted circle before three shots are fired. One figure appears to crawl away after the second shot. If confirmed, this latest shot would be roughly 0.2 miles further than the previously claimed record of an unnamed Canadian soldier in Iraq in 2017. In 2022, another Ukrainian soldier was credited with the world’s second-longest kill from almost 1.7 miles away from their target.
Ukrainian snipers have gained an almost mythical status since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with one unit taking on the nickname “Ghosts of Bakhmut.” Their commander, who goes by the call sign “Ghost,” claims responsibility for 113 of their 558 claimed kills in just nine months. However, Business Insider could not independently verify these figures. Despite being often mythologized by the general public, snipers face grueling conditions that require waiting up to 16 hours in one spot for a target. The crucial shot itself is only a small fraction of the skills needed, according to “Ghost.” He says that American films romanticize snipers and show them as very glamorous when in reality they face harsh conditions and dangerous situations daily.