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15.08.24 22:23 9 377 2

Sniper with call sign Coyote: "Everything is complicated in this profession. If you miss something, you will be corpse"

Our hero is reserved and laconical. This is not surprising, as he is a sniper by profession. And these fighters simply cannot be told much. In addition, as he admits, it is difficult to be talkative in the current realities.

His call sign is Coyote. His comrades nicknamed him Coyote because of his bright hair color, similar to a camouflage shade. He is a career military man. For a long time, he served in a special forces reconnaissance company of the "Offensive Guard" brigade. In general, he was mostly in special forces units. Now he is also in one of them. He held various positions. But, in the end, he chose sharpshooting.

- It was the profession of a sniper that I found most appealing," he says. - "Because, in my opinion, a sniper is not just a man who knows how to hit a target. It is a vocation that requires endurance, determination, purposefulness, making difficult decisions and strong moral and volitional qualities. This work requires full commitment, constant learning and self-development.

- You are a career military man who has served for a long time in special forces. How did you see the war before the full-scale invasion?

- I have been serving in the Special Forces for almost five years. Before the full-scale invasion, I assumed that eventually there would be a big war. But I did not think there would be such activity in all directions.

- You were an intelligence officer at the time of Russia's attack in 2022. I think that's why you understood that it could put everything on the line...

- Yes, at that time I was a scout in a Special Forces intelligence company. But at the beginning, it was difficult to determine where things could go, because everything was unpredictable. No one had any understanding. However, we had faith only in victory.

- What was 24 February 2022 like for you?

- The morning of 24 February began for me with a call from my comrade in arms who was on duty. He called me with the words: "There's an alarm, but wait a few minutes, I'll find out what kind of alarm it is". Ten minutes later, he calls and says it's a combat alarm. But in general, we were preparing for a field exercise, so we had the necessary things more or less packed.

- I know that at the beginning your unit defended Kharkiv. There were difficult battles there. Were there any fears that the Russians might capture the city?

- When our unit was defending the city, there were minimal fears that it could be captured. Although our unit was the closest to the enemy, they were, again, minimal. Because we had clear combat сrews and groups.

- At the beginning of the invasion, your sniper colleague, not known by his call sign, Liulia, was defending Izium, which is 120 kilometres from Kharkiv. In short, this is how he describes what happened to him there: "In that "meat grinder" I almost "croak" 500 times". What was that time like for you? What memories do you have?

- It was a difficult time for us in Kharkiv - constant shelling and enemy air strikes put us out of action. It was very hard, because no one understood what it was. The most frightening moments were when we went into the "grey zone" to adjust our mortars and when the enemy passed by us at night.

- You also defended Bakhmut. This is a bloody page in the history of this war. What do you remember most?

- During the fighting for Bakhmut, I was a medic. The worst thing was to see 18-19-year-olds with serious injuries coming to me. It was the same with my comrades in arms, with whom we were almost brothers, and you were constantly thinking about what you hadn't done, what you hadn't helped to the end...

- Think of your most difficult operation during a full-scale invasion.

- The most difficult thing for me was the evacuations in Bakhmut, which I told you about. Because they were constantly taking place under enemy fire. There was one such evacuation when I thought that I would never get home again. Then a mine hit two metres from our Hummer, the bypass road was blocked, and the IFV of the neighbouring units was hit. But we managed to escape.

- You were a medic at the time, but you decided to become a sniper. Why?

- I was motivated by the fact that a single sniper on the battlefield can change the whole situation in an instant, not allowing the enemy to raise his head even for a second, covering the approach route and retreat of my comrades. In other words, he can make a lot of noise. I also like the fact that here you are constantly developing, learning, growing and mastering new rifles and new distances.

- How did you feel when you shot the first target, the enemy, with your rifle?

- I had this feeling of fulfilling my direct duty.

- What was the longest distance you could hit the enemy?

- The longest shot distance was 600 metres.

-Can you tell us how it went?

- Unfortunately, I cannot go into details.

- Did you have a so-called sniper duel with the enemy?

- I did not participate in sniper duels.

- You said that a sniper, among other things, must have good stamina. How do you discipline yourself properly?

- Yes, a sniper has to be a very reserved and disciplined person, because it's his life on the battlefield. If he reveals himself and disguises himself, he will be fired upon with everything he has and hunted until he is killed.

- For a sniper, endurance is of utmost importance during missions where it is often necessary, for example, to remain motionless for hours. How do you develop it?

- For a sniper, endurance comes with experience and training.

- In general, in addition to hard work on yourself, it is also a vocation and talent, right?

- Being a sniper is not only a talent and a vocation. Indeed, it is constant hard work and self-improvement, training, gun crews and analyses. All of it together.

- What is the most difficult thing about your profession?

- I can't talk about one thing. Everything is complicated in this profession. If you miss something, you will be a corpse.

- When I talked to your colleagues, they kept saying that a sniper and a weapon need to be, so to speak, single unit. How can this be achieved? What can help?

- Becoming one with the weapon requires daily and constant training, practice and motivation.

- If a person who wanted to become a sniper asked you for advice, what would you tell them? Is this how to become a sniper from scratch? What is the most important thing in this profession?

- I would first ask this person what they are willing to do for this profession? What are they willing to give up? Based on the answers, I would give advice. That is, everything is individual. You have to look at each specific situation.

- Snipers often work in pairs. What should your partner be like to make you feel comfortable working with them? What qualities should they have?

- Snipers can work in pairs, in groups or autonomously. It all depends on the task that has been assigned. And the partner in the pair should be one with you. I would not single out any special qualities. It is individual for everyone. The main thing here is interaction and mutual understanding between people.

- What do you think of the enemy?

- Let's say: it should not be underestimated.

- What kind of snipers do they have?

- Their training is as good as ours, and maybe even better.

- For example, in what?

- Their development of sharpshooting started much earlier and was better. They have entire training schools and, so to speak, scientific works, because many books on sharpshooting are Russian. In addition, they have very good financial motivation.

- Now a part of your unit is performing combat missions in the Pokrovsk axis, which remains one of the most fierce. The enemy is intensifying its attacks and trying to advance. How do you assess the current situation at the front?

- As a very difficult and crucial one. But in general, everything depends on our government, because the military has already been ignored: the money that is allocated goes unaccountably, and commanders often do not value their personnel and neglect them as expendable. Until people in our country realise that we need to protect trained and educated people, we will be in trouble.

I see that the attitude is this: for some people, the war is only in Donbas, not in Ukraine as a whole, while others need to get warmed up by it. That is why we are suffering such losses now. Many people, so to speak, are tired of this war, even though these people are not even military men. They say things like: "I'm sick of donating" and "How long will this go on?!". We cannot win this way. Either we are all together and to the end, or... You understand.

- Are you analysing what will happen next?

- I analyse this conflict and believe that it is heading towards a "freeze".

- What motivates you personally to continue fighting in such circumstances?

- I am motivated by the fact that every person must do their part to win, and I want to do my little bit. I am fighting for my land, for my loved ones and for my beloved, and I do not want to allow the enemy to destroy everything here and create their own rights and rules of life. We did not come to them, they came to us.

- Do you see when this war can end?

- To be honest, I can't say.

P.S. Dear friends, Coyote's unit, which is currently fighting in the Pokrovsk axis, is raising funds for sniper equipment and vehicle conversion. If you are willing and able to help, here are the details: