The world considers its breath insane Vladimir Putin Prepares to deploy the full force of Russian troops in the Battle of David and Goliath for the historic capital of Ukraine, Kyiv,
But autocratic soldiers will have to pay a disastrous price when they finally set foot inside the besieged city, according to ‘Wali’, an elite sniper and Western freedom fighter who plans to take them down with sheer precision.
a veteran of two tours of Afghanistan With the Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment, Vali left a fiancé, one-year-old son and a comfortable life as an IT programmer to answer Ukraine’s plea for foreign recruits.
Weeks later he hides in a secret nook above the streets of Kyiv ready to see the first Russian invader with a bullet from his .338 rifle.
‘I don’t like the idea of shooting anyone. But I won’t hesitate when it comes time to press the trigger,’ Wally told DailyMail.com in an exclusive phone interview.
‘If Putin really wants Kyiv, he will have to pay a big price. Nobody wants the Russians here and everyone will protest. The damage we can do to them would be insane. They will lose so many lives it will become another Stalingrad.’
The Canadian Army veteran and sniper, identified only as ‘Vali’, is hiding above the streets of Kyiv, ready to spot the first Russian invader with his .338 rifle.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues in Kyiv, people and medics help a wounded resident of a house destroyed by shelling
According to the latest reports, Russia’s infantry has advanced within 15 miles of the closed city of about three million residents
Wali has asked to go by his given surname in Afghanistan if former KGB strongman Putin learns his identity and tries to target his family in Quebec.
While his loved ones gathered on Saturday to celebrate his son’s first birthday, Vali spent the day in an abandoned building, which he would reveal only as a ‘strategic location’ on the outskirts of Kyiv.
According to the latest reports, Russia’s infantry has advanced within 15 miles of the closed city of about three million residents, despite fierce resistance and humiliating setbacks.
But Vali tells DailyMail.com that once Putin’s men take to the streets and get into his crosshairs, he and his band of Ukrainian brothers will have the upper hand.
‘It’s a huge, built-up city, not a village. Looking from where I am now, I can see how many structures and buildings to shoot at, so many places to hide weapons and ambushes. They won’t know what hurt them,’ Vali vowed.
‘Russia has already failed to take Kharkiv and Mariupol, which are small towns. There is no way they can capture Kyiv. It would be better for everyone to decide not to attack.
It’s barely two weeks since Wali sat in front of a TV in Canada watching Putin launch the biggest military offensive in Europe since World War II.
With a new career in IT and a young family, Wally’s fighting days were well and truly behind him—or so he thought.
It was his boss, a Ukrainian-Canadian whose family members were stranded in besieged cities, who persuaded him that it was his “duty” to respond to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to arms.
It’s barely two weeks since Wali sat in front of a TV in Canada watching Putin launch the biggest military offensive in Europe since World War II.
Wali honed his sharpshooting skills during a 12-year career in the Canadian Army
Like a ‘firefighter who hears the alarm’, Wali says he joins his ally on the next flight to Poland, leaving a fiancé behind as he fends off his decision to throw himself into a brutal battle 4,000 miles away. Was scared
‘She was so scared, she said we need you here, your son needs you. But finally she calms down and says ok, do your duty but please be safe, don’t take any risk,’ says Wali.
‘There were a lot of emotions when I left. You don’t know when you’re going to get it back, or whether you’re even going to get it back. But I know that I have a duty to my family as well as to the world, I will not be here anymore.
‘The saddest thing for me was celebrating my son’s birthday. I stared at the phone for a few minutes. I was here in the dark, in a deserted building with my flashlight – it felt like I was on a different planet to them.’
Wali says he was greeted with hugs and handshakes when crossing from Poland into Ukraine on March 3, crossing columns of refugees on the opposite side for safety.
He soon rose to prominence after giving a brief interview to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which went viral and sparked bizarre headlines about how the ‘world’s deadliest sniper’ was gunning for Putin.
‘If they want to believe so, it’s not a bad thing. People need stories like this in war, it’s a morale booster,’ says Wali humbly.
‘I’m a good sniper, yes, but I don’t deserve that much attention. I don’t want to take away the courage of other soldiers here.
Wali honed his sharpshooting skills during a 12-year career in the Canadian Army.
He was first deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, when he spent six months fighting alongside US troops in Kandahar, returning after a year or so to advise Afghan police.
Wali began his first term as a freedom fighter after leaving the army in 2015, joining Kurdish forces for four months as he fought ISIS militants in northern Iraq.
Without air support, training and high-tech weapons, Wali says he and his allies learned to wage war with whatever they could get their hands on.
Russia intensifies its attacks on Kyiv, raining air strikes on the city, while fighting and artillery fire are raging around the suburbs
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko at the Kremlin in Moscow today
‘There was no helmet, no ballistic plates, not enough ammunition. I would sometimes go on patrol with just two magazines,’ he recalls.
‘There was one occasion when we pushed a large shovel into a village on the back of a bulldozer, using it as protection. I was hanging on thinking it was crazy, I couldn’t escape it but the Islamic State fighters were so shocked they fled.
‘Some of them hid in a house, so the Kurds burned it down and shot them when they came out. I can still hear the bullets flying above me. It was absolutely brutal, a day I will never forget.’
Vali says he has passed through the western parts of Ukraine via Kyiv, which is largely safe and – so far – has not faced the level of violence and destruction in Iraq.
His reputation as a fearful marksman helped him win over Ukrainian commanders, who handed him a $6,000 military-grade .338 sniper rifle and assigned him to the advance ranks of the city’s defense.
The Finnish-made gun, equipped with high-class optics, is typical of the Western weapons it is accustomed to using and can hit at a range of 1,400 meters (1,531 yards).
‘This is a high quality rifle. It will work but I will be sad when I have to use it. Every time I shoot it is a failure for everyone involved,’ lamented Wali.
‘Many of these Russian soldiers are boys themselves. I can’t help thinking that a long time ago they were kids like my son. But I will do whatever is necessary.
With Russia and Ukraine meeting for further peace talks this week there is a glimmer of hope that a ceasefire can be agreed without bloodshed in the streets of Kyiv.
Russian airstrikes on Sunday heavily damaged a Ukrainian military base in Yvoryv, just 12 miles from the Polish border – killing at least 35 people and injuring 134 others
People retrieve goods from an apartment in a block destroyed by an artillery strike in Kyiv, Ukraine
The nightmare scenario is that Putin rejects any deal and instead decides to destroy the city with airstrikes in a distorted display of force.
“We can’t underestimate the Russians because they have a lot of firepower,” says Vali seriously.
‘There are ways to protect yourself, you can move from one building to another, you can change places as you adjust to the fire.
‘So it’s a mix of luck and skill, like rolling the dice. The better you are, the better the odds are but the dice can always fall on the wrong number. You can get killed no matter what your skill level or who you are.’
If the worst happens, Vali hopes that his young son will grow up realizing that his father died fighting something more than a bloody battle for the frozen territory on the eastern edge of Europe.
“I want him to be proud of me and grow up believing in the same values I am fighting for,” he tells DailyMail.com.
Our interview is probably one of the last calls Vali will make before turning off his cell phone to avoid giving his position to the Russians on the move.
With unshakeable confidence, he says: ‘I’m not just doing this for Ukraine, I’m doing it for everyone. Ukraine is the front line of freedom.’