The beginning of the conflict in 2014, the sniper formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine met mainly with Dragunov sniper rifles (SVD) of the 1963 model. Such weapons, of course, did not allow effective work on remote targets, but it was quite suitable for battles in urban areas. In Ukraine, the sniper school was never a priority - in the army, high-precision weapons were treated with coolness, the main users were the SBU special forces, as well as the 8th and 3rd special forces regiments of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
It was the shooter of the 3rd spetsnaz regiment who made the first recorded effective shot from a sniper rifle on May 25, 2014 near the Donetsk airport. In fairness, it is worth mentioning that in the hands of these specialists were also extremely few Western sniper weapons, purchased even before the coup. In addition, the internal troops of Ukraine had in their arsenal semi-automatic rifles "Fort-301" manufactured by the Vinnitsa enterprise "Fort". This weapon is designed for NATO cartridge 7, 62x51 mm and is a copy of the Israeli "Galil Sniper" sniper rifle, which is made on the basis of the Galil assault rifle, which, in turn, borrowed the design of the Soviet AK. "Fort-301" is not a weapon for positional sniper warfare and is intended primarily for tactical support of subunits at short and medium ranges. Ukrainian-Israeli rifles were fully transferred to a new structure - the National Guard.
Ukrainian-Israeli "Fort-301"
The development of hostilities in the Donbass required new weapons for snipers - long-range and with increased target action. In Ukraine, since the end of 2014, such were the famous American Barret M82 in the M82A1 / A1M and M82A3 modifications. Ukrainians have been familiar with such weapons since 2010, when several copies of such weapons were purchased from the Americans. A powerful cartridge of 12.7 mm caliber made it possible to reach militia fighters at distances of up to 1800 meters, which somewhat changed the tactics of the "anti-terrorist operation". The Ukrainians got a taste and began to train mass snipers not only for special forces, but also for combat units.
Ukrainian snipers and their Barret M82.
A certain reciprocal step was the supply of Russian-made Orsis T-5000 rifles to the militia, which can already be attributed to high-precision weapons with a target range of up to 1650 meters. The weapon is designed for.338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 mm),.300 Winchester Magnum and.308 Winchester (7.62 mm) cartridges. The most popular user of T5000 in the DPR is the Serb Deyan "Deki" Berich, for whose head a serious award has been appointed in Ukraine. It was he who said in one of the numerous interviews: "After the appearance of good thermal imagers on the Ukrainian side, it is no longer possible to lie down for several hours, as before, and equip a secure position, despite camouflage." Ukraine is actively equipping itself with high-class military equipment, which makes it possible to conduct hostilities at any time of the day and in any weather, as well as to conduct effective anti-sniper work.
Dejan "Deki" Berich and his Orsis T5000
Even taking into account the sea of lies and propaganda pouring from the Ukrainian media, it can be noted that sniper training and tactics of use in the Armed Forces of Ukraine have become one of the most progressive areas of development. They adopt the experience of work from numerous mercenaries fighting on the side of official Kiev, as well as at retraining bases from specialists from NATO countries. They come to shoot people and specimens of the Baltic school of snipers from Lithuania, who are distinguished by their special professionalism and cynicism. According to the stories of a fighter with the callsign Hedgehog (from the book "The War in the Donbass. Weapons and Tactics" by A. Shirokorad), an excellent training base for biathletes with strong instructors has been created in the Baltic States since Soviet times, who, due to lack of work, adapted to training snipers. In Donbass, Lithuanian female snipers are called Baltic witches for their characteristic style of shooting at the limbs and causing unnecessary suffering to victims. True, such data should always be treated with a fair amount of skepticism. The high level of training of snipers on the side of Ukraine is evidenced by the fact of the attempt on the life of the Prime Minister of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko (now deceased) on January 30, 2015 in Uglegorsk. Later, the partisan detachment "Shadows" took responsibility for the unsuccessful attempt, which resulted in the death of the security guard Zakharchenko.
Lobaev Arms DXL-4 "SEVASTOPOL" - an expensive and high-quality weapon allegedly used by LDNR snipers
A variety of sniper weapons on both sides of the front is the hallmark of this conflict - modernized SVD, 12, 7-mm long-range ASVK and Lobaev Arms DXL-4 "SEVASTOPOL" are fighting in the LDNR. The latter, according to the author of the weapon Nikolai Lobaev, allows you to work on targets at distances of up to 2800 meters. However, information on DXL-4 is still tentative in nature and is based only on indirect data from the Ukrainian side. According to Lobaev himself, only experienced professionals can fully use such serious equipment in battle, the simple skills of an army sniper are not enough here. Also, experts from Ukraine point to the alleged use by the militia of night sights Pulsar, silent rifles "Vintorez" (9-mm) and large-caliber "Exhaust" (12, 7-mm).
"GOPAK" at the presentation
Ukrainian industry also has something to fight against the imaginary Russian sniper threat. So, welcome - the rifle "GOPAK" caliber 7, 62 mm, first presented at the XII International specialized exhibition "Arms and Security" in Kiev. The name does not refer to the famous Ukrainian dance, but is an abbreviation for "Gvintivka is operatively portable on the basis of AK", which, in fact, fully reveals the idea of a weapon. This is a clear analogue of the Russian silent "Vintorez", only it differs disadvantageously from it in a smaller caliber and lack of automatic reloading, which was removed in order to reduce noise.
VPR-308
On the basis of the sports rifle "Zbroyar Z-008" by Konstantin Konev, a more serious sniper weapon under the VPR-308 index, chambered for 7, 62x51 (.308 Winchester) was created in Ukraine. The VPR-338 variant uses the more powerful.338 Lapua Magnum in 8.6 mm. The tests took place in the 1st brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine in July 2014, but only two years later they went into series for the units involved in the ATO. As you can see, the VPR series is the Ukrainian counterpart of the Russian T5000 and performs similar tasks on the battlefield. And what about large-caliber long-range vehicles? Or will Ukraine continue to use US equipment?
Advertising brochure Snipex.50 BMG "Rhino Hunter"
Snipex.50 BMG "Rhino Hunter" is, according to the developers, a completely Ukrainian development with a sliding bolt and uses the "NATO" cartridge 12, 7x99 mm (.50 BMG). Such a heavy rifle (up to 16 kg) from the XADO company is capable of reaching a person and lightly armored vehicles at a distance of up to 2500 meters. The first examples of the large-caliber Snipex.50 appeared in October 2016. There is also something to answer for so many powerful weapons in the LDNR troops - a 12, 7-mm rifle with the affectionate name "Dovchanka" assembled on their own using barrels from Utes machine guns. Fragmentary data on weapons allow us to speak about the development in the LDNR of the production of its own barrels with acceptable tolerances in manufacturing accuracy.
"Dovchanka" militia
The tactics and technique of the snipers on both sides of the front does not differ in variety and is carried out in full accordance with the best training manuals. The shooters work in tandem with observers at a distance of about 400-500 meters from the target, located mainly on elevations. Often, snipers are additionally equipped with a group of 5-7 fighters employed to guard the shooter and provoke fire from the enemy. Usually, fire from small arms, grenade launchers, and towering dummies are used for provocations. Snipers are used to hunt enemy shooters in the conditions of trench warfare and "truce", acting as decoys. In the conditions of a mobile war, they usually do not spare any resources to suppress sniper prone - they work on the intended target with everything that is, up to MLRS and 152-mm artillery.
