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Tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:02 pm
by mundaire
I’ve tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here.’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... war-putin/
March 5 at 4:00 AM ET

NEVELSKE, Ukraine — A silhouette stood out for just a moment, which was plenty of time for Dancer to ready his aim. He squeezed the trigger, and the pixelated human figure was upright for roughly two seconds until the sniper’s bullet found its mark, crumbling the enemy fighter onto frozen earth.

Smile Platoon lived up to their name, gathering around the kitchen table to watch the video of a recent kill. The snipers laughed, recounting that the recent operation was the same spot they had earlier killed Russian-backed separatists.

“Are they stupid?” one asked in amused bewilderment. “Are they immortal?” another bellowed, watching the handiwork of Dancer, the call sign for a sniper whose ballet training in a past life helped him silence his footsteps. One of the soldiers hit play, and the video rolled again.

A sniper in Nevelske, Ukraine, in February. (Serhiy Morgunov for The Washington Post)

My colleague and I visited the platoon’s team house in the days before the Russian invasion, when the platoon kept busy terrorizing separatist fighters outside Donetsk, working on a front line that no longer exists. With the conflict widening into all-out war throughout the country, the platoon has gone dark except for one message.

“It is war here. These f--kers attacked us,” Serhiy Varakin, the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade sniper platoon commander, said in a text last Friday to my colleague, also named Serhiy. “What else can I say?”

My colleague Serhiy has tried a few times to speak with the commander and hopefully learn they are doing okay since the invasion. Their lack of response is understandable given their secretive job and their new reality — they’re not interested in telling us what they are doing.

But before then, the Smile Platoon team house was a warm and inviting place to two outsiders, where the salo and tea flowed all day and night.

The Smile Platoon sniper unit in Nevelske, Ukraine, on Feb. 15, 2022. (Serhiy Morgunov for The Washington Post )

Natalia, a platoon scout, counted the days on her gunmetal-painted fingers until her Facebook ban for creating a second account was lifted. Vitaliy’s florist wife dutifully took over her husband’s home front job, watering their vast expanse of potted plants in his absence. And a sniper with the call sign Medik finally got his care package from the United States: a Weatherby .338 rifle and advanced optic that outperforms what his own military provides.

The big bang of Ukrainian sniper units occurred after the 2014 invasion, when the muddy tangle of trench warfare in the east forced commanders to shed Soviet marksman manuals, catch up to modern technology and kill more accurately from farther away.

Their growing proficiency and professionalization backed by Western forces has swung a pendulum back at their adversaries, who often wield superior rifles and surveillance systems, snipers in the platoon said. They even absorb hallmarks of American warfighter culture from the soldiers who helped advise them. Black Rifle Coffee Co. mugs litter the living quarters, and at any given moment, a few of the snipers crowd around a smartphone, watching videos of gun influencers on Instagram.

Ukrainian snipers are an elite bunch distinct from regular troops, they are quick to tell you.

I’ve met many like them, first during my time in Iraq as an Army infantryman and later when I became friends with former Marine snipers who served in Afghanistan. They speak about ballistics and windage with a monkish devotion to their craft and relish the idea of psychologically tormenting their enemies. Watching their enemy’s heads split apart in their scopes is not a traumatic hazard, they explain. It’s a job perk.

Rifles that snipers prepared for training in Nevelske, Ukraine, in February. (Serhiy Morgunov for The Washington Post)

Gathered around the dining table as a soldier sliced vegetables to drop into a pot of simmering borscht, I asked why they were called Smile Platoon.

“Because we can see their faces,” Natalia said. “And we’re happy to kill them.”

But they also described a Ukrainian defense establishment and industry mired in Soviet-style bureaucracy that doesn’t understand what they do or how to equip them properly, down to the ammunition they use and the rifles they wield.

In a profession when milliseconds and millimeters count, the consequences can be dire.

Ruslan Shpakovych, a sniper instructor and adviser to units in and outside the military, said the problems afflicting the community are interrelated, beginning with gaps in funding that forbid pricey items, like high-end surveillance and monitoring devices. Instead, Shpakovych said, the snipers rely on Frankenstein reconnaissance systems pieced together with digital cameras and monitors that don’t allow them to see as far or as well as their counterparts on the battlefield.

Another issue is the kind of ammunition they are issued. It’s designed for hunting, but when it strikes body armor, it tends to pancake on impact, he explained on a visit to the team house. Its trajectory is also marred by minor disturbances.

“I just recently visited the guys in Kharkiv,” Shpakovych said, speaking of the large city in northeastern Ukraine that days later was bombarded with Russian missiles and artillery. “They were shooting through the branches. And they were lucky that the branches weren’t deflecting bullets — a soft bullet can get deflected by a branch.”

The solution, he said, was to use steel core ammunition, which is designed to punch through armor and heavy enough to maintain its trajectory. But factories in Ukraine don’t produce such ammunition, he said, and there have been years-long delays to overhaul the factory.
There is also no native production of the sniper rifles they need the most. Ukrainian manufacturers make a .308-caliber sniper rifle, but they don’t produce a military version of the .338 rifle, Shpakovych said, which the snipers say is a good solution for most of their work and reliable for hitting targets a kilometer away.

Medik, a code name used by a Ukrainian sniper, sits on his bed with his rifle in Nevelske, Ukraine, on Feb. 15 2022. (Serhiy Morgunov for The Washington Post)

The supply problem has forced the snipers to buy their own rifles with their own money or get them via donations from nonprofits, such as Come Back Alive, where Shpakovych works as an instructor. That has also created complications, he said, when Ukrainian import restrictions on arms through nonmilitary channels have sometimes held up gear.

Medik, who goes by a call sign derived from his medical training, said it took about three weeks to receive a rifle and advanced optic he purchased from the United States. It cost him more than $6,000, even after Shpakovych helped get him a discount. The ad hoc reality of gun purchases has created a dizzying mix of weapons, calibers and barrels that are all different, many of them cheap U.S. models that wear out too quickly. Everything must match, Shpakovych said.

While security assistance continues to flow into Ukraine, it’s unclear if anyone in the United States is receptive to the needs of soldiers closest to the fight. The United States has provided more than $1 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine in the past year, but the Ukraine Defense Ministry and the Pentagon wouldn’t discuss any of these specific issues.

“The U.S. will provide defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne and other threats it is now facing,” said Army Lt. Col. César Santiago, a Pentagon spokesperson. He did not address questions about the status of aid most important to the platoon, including the delivery of Barrett MRAD rifles, which are becoming the standard issue for U.S. snipers.

“We’ve been promised these for quite a while,” Shpakovych said.

Varakin, the commander, was careful in his assessment of the supply challenges. He praised the current defense ministry and military leadership, saying they are the first senior officials to understand the utility of snipers on the battlefield. But his ability to get the right resources, including vehicles, has frustrated him at times.

“Although our army receives Javelins, we snipers don’t get enough supplies,” he said. “Even though the usefulness of our work becomes more evident.”

Serhiy Varakin, commander of the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade sniper platoon, in Nevelske, Ukraine on Feb. 16, 2022. (Serhiy Morgunov for The Washington Post)

Varakin has three rules for his snipers: abstinence from alcohol, dedication to service above all else and a willingness to do anything to achieve high performance.

The last one leaves Smile Platoon with lighter pockets each month. Sitting around the dining table, the snipers pick at smoked smelt and endlessly browse gunmaker websites, looking for the next rifle to buy with a few months’ worth of salary.

Maybe the gun they were counting on would reach them in time for the invasion a few days later. Maybe it wouldn’t.

Medik contemplated how their world would change when that moment arrived, and Russians would flood the battlefield. It would provide something perhaps only a sniper would think about: a promising opportunity to hone his craft.

“We’ll just have more work,” he said. “I hope we’ll have enough bullets.”

Re: Tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:30 pm
by nagarifle
a friend of mine says he is going over for tea and dance

Re: Tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2022 1:22 am
by timmy
This is a very interesting article, Abhijeet -- thanks for providing it. Some observations:

1. Battlefield technology is certainly changing

2. There is value in a well-trained populace, even if it is self-trained and equipped

3. I wonder what the value of such elements would have been in days of earlier technology, like 1962

4. when I read, "defense establishment and industry mired in Soviet-style bureaucracy that doesn’t understand what they do or how to equip them properly, down to the ammunition they use and the rifles they wield," it made me shudder

5. For a number of years, the training and capability of the invaders has been questioned by military analysts, and this article seems to verify those assessments

6. I need to get out to the range more

7. Going to the linked article and studying the pictures of their equipment was most interesting

Re: Tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2022 6:26 pm
by Vikram
Interesting article. One silver lining is they can at least buy the right tools at their own expense and with some outside help.

Re: Tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 5:59 am
by timmy
Vikram wrote:
Mon Mar 07, 2022 6:26 pm
Interesting article. One silver lining is they can at least buy the right tools at their own expense and with some outside help.
I agree, Vikram, very interesting, indeed!

Thinking about this thread, I have decided to visit the "Old Stove Society." This is an expression used to refer to old men, often dressed in work bib overalls generally employed as farmers and mechanics, gathered around a pot-bellied wood or coal stove on a cold winter day in the back of a rural store 100 years ago, swapping stories that were wonderful for their expertise and entertainment, if only they were true.

I've had experiences a bit similar to this, at a gun shop many years ago (I've related some of those stories here) and at my Uncle's hardware store, the back room of which was the gathering place of my Grandfather, Great Uncle, and other seemingly ancient gentlemen of the neighborhood, and where similar stories were swapped (however, not in English!).

Picking up on an old stove discussion on this subject, as I'm looking at their equipment, especially the rifles, I would be guessing that these rifles, if top notch sniper types, would be chambered in one of two cartridges: either 30-378 Weatherby Magnum or 338 Lapua Magnum (here, observing the "Magnum" designation is key).

Here is the Weatherby cartridge:

Image

and here is a Wiki article describing the history and properties of the cartridge:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-378_Weatherby_Magnum

Here is the Lapua cartridge:

Image

and here is the corresponding Wiki article describing it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338_Lapua_Magnum

As you can see, both of these cartridges were intended as long range sniper cartridges by the military, and should be considered true 1000 yard cartridges. This is as opposed to the 7.62x51 NATO round, which is used in long range sniper use, but is actually somewhat marginal at that distance. The Weatherby round was explored to correct the deficiencies of long range sniper use. After WW2, the US Army disbanded sniper units and training, and when the Korean War broke out, had to scramble for long range sniping solution. Famously, this was largely addressed by Lt. Col. William S Brophy, long employed by Marlin Firearms and author of excellent books on the 1903 Springfield Rifle, the Krag Rifle, Springfield Armory, Marlin Firearms, and L C Smith Shotguns.

This little archived article traces the outlines of the US Army's search for a long range sniper rifle, including Brophy's use of the proven long range characteristics of the .50 cal. Browning Machine Gun round, the shooting of which is a hobby of gun nuts to this day. (We've also discussed this subject on the forum.)

https://web.archive.org/web/20190528061 ... orean-war/

As good as it was and still is for military use, using smaller calibers for long range sniping was desirable, thus the US Army's exploration of the 30-378 Weatherby Magnum in 1959, and development of the 338 Lapua Magnum in the 1980s. The Wiki articles discuss this somewhat.

Since we are discussing this around the old stove, I think that, of these two cartridges, I'd prefer the 338 Lapua Magnum in a rifle. My reasons for this are:

1. The Lapua is a rimless cartridge, while the Weatherby is a belted cartridge. Weatherby liked the belted cases because, originally, "Magnum" cartridges had a belt. This was due to their descent from the original 300 and 375 H&H cartridge cases, which needed to headspace on something other than their case neck, which didn't have enough taper to support this function. Also, intended to work through a bolt gun, they couldn't use a rim, as rimmed cartridges often don't feed through magazines so well. Thus, the belt. However, my understanding is that belt cases are not as optimal for accuracy as rimless cartridge cases. Weatherby, who marketed his guns as an upscale product with fancy white line spacers, huge "Monte Carlo" humps on the stock, and rosewood back-angled fore end tips, wanted to retain "Magnum" in his marketing, even though the idea that the belt provided no extra strength or power was not true. I don't need any of these attributes, and the "clean" Lapua case will do quite nicely for me, thank you!

2. I think that the 338 bullet has long range advantages over the 308 caliber bullet.

3. Anything that says "Weatherby" traditionally costs more for a given level of performance, and this is something I don't need to pay for, either.

Having said all of this, what about paying for it -- or, even paying what the Ukrainians are paying for these rifles?

For me to walk across the street to the local gun shop, I would be looking at ₹1.2 lakh to ₹2.6 lakh for a Weatherby. These aren't "tactical" rifles, but more like heavy varmint competition rifles. For a 338 Lapua Magnum rifle in full tactical dress, about ₹2.5 lakh would be a fair price, although some cheaper rifles that are also more of a heavy varmint class gun, like the Savage bolt, could be had for slightly less than a lakh.

Ammunition for the Weatherby would range from about ₹8000 for a box of 20, to ₹13,000 for Weatherby-branded ammunition. 338 Lapua Magnum ammunition, with premium hunting bullets like Noslers, would be about 30% less.

A scope by Trijicon might run from ₹85,000, and the high end by Swarovski would be ₹3.5 lakh. A good night vision scope might be in the range of a Swarovski.

I'm not even pricing and factoring in the cost of a "can" or suppressor in this, which would add more and wouldn't be cheap!

Added to all of this would be the cost of getting such a rifle and shipping to Ukraine. While buying, say, 10 of them all set up might get some kind of discount, the cost of getting the guns over there with shipping and handling could be significant, but I don't know for sure. This whole business would not be cheap for a Ukrainian, even if it was in a "group buy."

For me, I couldn't afford it, even walking across the street! So, in the true tradition of the Old Stove Society, what would I do if I need one of these weapons here?

First, if I had access to the right tools and a little teaching, I'd make up my own rifle on a custom Mosin Nagant, inletted into a blind stock for single shot use. I'd use a heavy 26" or 28" barrel in 338 Lapua Magnum, although I confess I'd be sorely tempted to run with 300 H&H, or even 300 Win Mag in a pinch, despite the penalty in long range performance.

But, limited to something off of the shelf and my current tools and skills, I'd be thinking about a Savage bolt action.

The scope is a killer regarding costs, though. Generally, one thinks of a good scope matching the rifle's capabilities when they each cost about the same amount, or with the scope costing more, and there's no way of getting around that. Given the situation, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a second scope available.

The tactical packs and other equipment wouldn't be cheap, either, as I note that these fellows are equipped with good gear, including plate carriers and what I'd assume to be very good armor, given what they are spending on the rifles.

This is not an inexpensive thing that they are doing! The option of getting this stuff would be pretty much beyond me -- maybe not of the same cost magnitude of the option of being able to buy a Koenigsegg, but practically of the same reality.

Re: Tried to reach Ukrainian snipers I met before the invasion. One message came back: ‘It is war here

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 12:17 am
by Vikram
Quite pertinent observations, Tim, as ever.