Wali
Canadian sniper fighting in Ukraine: “When the time comes, I won’t hesitate”
Sniper Vali wants to support Ukraine (symbol image)
© PeopleImages / Getty Images
He only calls himself Wali – and has already been deployed as a sniper in Afghanistan and in the fight against IS. Shortly after the war began, the Canadian traveled to Ukraine to support the country under attack.
“The time has come to go to the front,” the man, who calls himself “Wali,” wrote on his Facebook page on February 27. War had broken out in Ukraine three days earlier because Russia had attacked the country. The Canadian’s decision was quickly made: he wanted to put his skills at the service of Ukraine and fight against Russian troops.
A friend from Ukraine called him and asked for help, Wali told Canadian television station CBC. He didn’t have to think long. It was clear to him: “I have to help. People are being bombed here just because they want to be Europeans and not Russians,” he said. Since then he has been traveling in the war zone and documents his operations on the Facebook page “La Torche et l’Épée” – in English: “The Sword and the Torch”.
Ukraine: Sniper Vali heeds government call
After his arrival in Ukraine, he found shelter with other foreign fighters in an abandoned house. The men were checked by a Ukrainian special unit, but the suspicions of the local soldiers quickly subsided, according to Wali: “We quickly became friends.” He impressively describes the conditions on site, the country is “sliding into a true apocalypse”. The population seeks refuge in cellars and emergency shelters, many things remind him of the Second World War.
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The soldier does not reveal on his Facebook page exactly what his duties will be and where he will be deployed. On March 10, he only reported that preparations for his mission had begun: “We have to collect information, where is the enemy, how can we advance?” However, he could not reveal any more details, according to the Canadian. “I don’t like the idea of killing people. But when the time comes to pull the trigger, I won’t hesitate,” he told the British Daily Mail newspaper. He felt like “a firefighter who hears the alarm,” says Wali, describing his decision to go to war for a distant country.
The 40-year-old is also willing to make sacrifices. He may miss his young son’s birthday. His wife wasn’t particularly thrilled: “You can imagine what she said and how she thinks,” Wali, a former elite soldier who lives in Quebec and now works as a programmer, told CBC, but after the Russian invasion he followed suit Reputation of the Ukrainian government, which had asked foreigners with combat experience to help defend the country.
Experience in Afghanistan and in the fight against IS
Wali was a member of the Canadian Army’s 22nd Regiment and twice deployed to Afghanistan. After 12 years, he left the army in 2015 but volunteered to fight against IS in Iraq.
Media had reported that he was the Canadian sniper who eliminated an IS fighter from more than 3.5 kilometers away in 2017, setting a world record. The Canadian dismisses such claims in a Facebook post however, in the realm of “legend” and is very modest: “I’m far from the best sniper,” he says: “I’m just a good soldier.”
Swell: “La Torche et l’Epee” on Facebook / CBC / CNN / “Daily Mail”
Watch the video: “The portable missiles make it possible”: stern military expert Gernot Kramper explains the Ukrainian army’s successful guerrilla tactics, including the weapons deliveries from the West. The light shoulder missiles heavily damage Russian supply lines – but the retaliation will probably also hit civilians.