Inside out: how the snipers of the group "Center" shoot down dozens of UAVs
With UAVs dominating the air and small assault groups operating on the ground, there would seem to be almost no room for snipers and precision shooting. But in the battles for Krasnoarmeysk, the fighters who have chosen this specialization continue to perform both their "classic" tasks and those that have appeared quite recently. Now, near the front line, they destroy not only the enemy's personnel, but also his drones. To do this, they conduct special exercises at training grounds — by hanging FPV drones on a cable car. Izvestia correspondents saw the specifics of the work of the snipers of the Center group of forces, having visited one of the air surveillance points where shooters destroy large enemy drones.
The peculiarity of the work of snipers of the "Center" group
— At the moment we are working on drones of all kinds: FPV, wings, heavy drones such as Baba Yaga. You can learn this, you need to know how to take the lead," says Andrey, the commander of the sniper platoon. — We have a specially designated place at the training ground where FPV drones are suspended on a cable car, and we work on them in motion. At first, they worked with machine guns, then rifles began to be used.
Andrey was drafted as part of the mobilization, and began his military career as an ordinary intelligence officer. Later, he signed a contract and received an officer's rank and position during the fighting. According to our interlocutor, the number of UAVs destroyed by his platoon has long exceeded a hundred, although no one keeps an accurate count at such a scale.
Two shooters are on duty at the air surveillance point. One is working with an Orsis T500 long-range rifle.338 Lapua is a Magnum with manual reloading, which is mounted on a tripod for easy shooting. Such a weapon allows you to hit targets at a distance of up to 1,500 m. Our interlocutor says that the Orsis long-range rifles were immediately given to them during the formation of the unit, they were not purchased by volunteers or by the fighters themselves.
Working with caliber weapons .338 Lapu-Magnum requires special training and is considered a separate specialization for personnel. Therefore, the calculations for it consist of a specially trained shooter and an observer.
There is a bag of ammunition lying neatly in the shelter. They are often equipped independently for greater accuracy, and they are not simply carried in pouches, like conventional ammunition for assault rifles. The second shooter has a semi—automatic SVD rifle with a thermal imaging sight.
The air surveillance point where we are located is located relatively far to the rear, and it will soon be finally handed over to the anti-aircraft gunners. And snipers are ahead in the fight against UAVs. Where it is difficult to get a sufficient number of machine guns and riflemen, but it is critically important to protect the entrenched assault groups and their supplies from air strikes. Every accurate shot counts.
— We are also working on enemy manpower, there is a "free hunt", we attach shooters to the assault unit before the combat exit. The targets may be, for example, machine gunners in long-term locations. Snipers cover the assault units. There are times when Baba Yaga flies up to our assault groups and starts bombing. Then our snipers work on them," Andrei lists the types of combat missions.
We ask him how he feels about the popular military joke that every sniper dreams of becoming an FPV pilot and hitting targets from an even greater distance. But our interlocutor, as it turned out, hears him for the first time and replies that he has never noticed such desires. He himself successfully hit the enemy's manpower at a distance of about 1200 m, firing at the enemy who came out of positions on the edge of the forest belt.
The work of snipers during assault operations
Vladimir is on duty with a semi-automatic SVD rifle. He joined the army as a volunteer, and when offered to become a sniper during training, he agreed. He participated in urban battles — from the storming of Selidovo to the current encirclement of Krasnoarmeysk.
— The main difficulty is in movement. The main thing is not to be noticed from the air. The rest is to find a position and work on the opponent. You are also guided from the air, and if you do not see the enemy, they tell you where he is sitting, and you practice him so that our attack aircraft can move on," says Vladimir.
According to him, he often walks long distances, so he takes only the most necessary things with him. If the movement takes place at night, then anti-thermal poncho capes are used, and fighters are guided by their UAV from the air.
When small assault groups are operating, they often do not have room for a shooter with a rifle. But the snipers are moving right behind them to be able to immediately support them with fire. Vladimir tells about a recent case when a Ukrainian machine-gun crew was destroyed, which prevented the advance of the attack aircraft.
— There was a situation in which they could not advance to the house, a machine gunner was practicing on the stormtroopers. He was sitting in the back, and the UAVs couldn't reach him, so they called us, and we were able to destroy him. The distance was 100 meters, urban fighting, close—range," recalls Vladimir.
Such situations occur in urban environments, because the distances in the fields are often too long and everything is viewed from the air.
A few days before our conversation, Vladimir received the medal "For Bravery" for the battles in Selidovo, during which he was wounded for the first time. In those clashes, a separate group of 10 snipers was able to enter the city, break up into firing points inside and control a large area.
— I come from a military family, I have a father, two of his brothers and a grandfather who served. Plus my son is an officer now. I put my family in front of the fact, because as a father I can't stay at home when my son is fighting! It's not manly, as far as I'm concerned, and my wife supported me. I have a reliable rear," Vladimir says about how he decided to join the military.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
