war in Ukraine
Sniper Vali has scathingly criticized his post-deployment in Ukraine
Sniper Vali had his picture taken in full gear for the Ukrainian armed forces
© Ukrainian Armed Forces / Commons
Sniper Wali is back in Canada. His mission was disappointing, he never really got the shot. Then a Russian tank fired on his group.
Two months ago, Vali – one of the most famous living snipers in the world – went to Ukraine to fight against the Russian invaders. Its appearance unleashed a propaganda storm. Western media reveled in the idea that the shooter would “deliver” 40 dead Russians a day. Russian media claimed he was killed with a precision strike as soon as he appeared in Mariupol. Now Wali is back in Canada and gives an unillusioned description of the true war.
Vali had pitched camp in Ukraine when his group came under fire from a Russian tank. “I’m lucky to be alive, it was really close,” the former Royal 22nd Regiment soldier told La Presse at his home near Montreal. After a long period of inactivity, he was first deployed near Kyiv and then in the Donbass.
Careless recruits
He describes his last day as follows: Wali was lying near a ditch early in the morning when two Ukrainian conscripts peeled off their blankets and lit cigarettes. Wali immediately warned them, but they would not listen to him. Immediately, a “high-precision” Russian shell hit. “It blew up. I saw the shrapnel, laser beams flashing by. My body tensed up. I couldn’t hear anything, I had a headache right away. It was really intense.” The two Ukrainians died instantly. “It smelled like death, it’s hard to describe; it’s a macabre smell of charred flesh, sulfur and chemicals. It’s so inhuman, that smell.”
An hour later, Wali called his partner in Canada. “He explained to me that there had been two deaths,” she tells the newspaper. “He told me, ‘I think I’ve done enough. Have I done enough?’ It was like he wanted me to tell him to come back.” And Wali left, also because of his partner and their child. “My heart feels like I want to go back to the front. (…) But I pushed my luck. I have no injuries. I think to myself: How long can I keep throwing the dice?”
Disappointing effort
Overall, like most volunteers from the West, his efforts were disappointing. Shortly after the war began, the government in Kyiv asked foreign fighters to volunteer. Wali estimates that there were about 20,000 men. But in Ukraine there were no structures to include them in regular military units. So the men ended up in different units made up entirely of foreigners. Wali and other Canadians also joined such a group. Despite their pompous names, these are rather irregular formations without supplies and proper equipment.
“Many volunteer fighters expected everything to be handed over on a turnkey basis, but this war is the opposite, it’s a terrible disappointment,” Wali said. It was hard to get even a gun. “You had to know someone who knew someone who told you that they would give you an AK-47 at an old hair salon. That kind of gear is something you have to tinker with, using parts and ammo wherever you can worried. In many cases in more or less good condition.”
Meals for the volunteers are provided by civilians. Also the petrol to move a vehicle. “You always have to organize.” Most foreigners would have chosen to go home. “Many come to Ukraine with a proud chest, but they leave with their tails between their legs,” says Wali. His own combat mission was also disappointing. He only fired two bullets into the window “to scare people”. As an infantryman, he was never within real firing range. “It’s a war of machines” in which the “extremely brave” Ukrainian soldiers suffer very heavy casualties from Russian shelling.
Source: la press