One of world’s deadliest snipers arrives in Ukraine to fight Putin

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put out a call for foreign fighters to join in his country’s fight against Putin’s invading Russian forces. In response, a mysterious 40-year-old ex-soldier, dubbed ‘one of the world’s deadliest snipers’ has answered his appeal.

Nicknamed simply ‘Wali’, which from Arabic translates as ‘guardian’, or, ‘protector’, the marksman is reputed to be one of the best shots in the world. He is a veteran of the Royal Canadian 22nd Regiment, and when the Ukrainian President made his appeal, ‘Wali’ was working in Canada as a computer programmer.

He has already been in Ukraine for more than a week, after flying into Poland, and then grabbing a lift into the hot zone with a friend who was transporting humanitarian aid.

During their journey, the duo were running low on fuel and were stopped by a Ukrainian checkpoint. They were initially met with suspicion by the soldiers manning the point, especially as ‘Wali’ had his AK-47 with him. Once they realised the two were not Russians, their mood changed explained ‘Wali’.

Despite being a crackshot with a rifle, he also likes snapping photos, and has been posting his exploits so far on his ‘The Torch and Sword‘ Facebook page. “I feel like I’m the spectator of WW3 in colour”, he said.

Describing his encounter at the checkpoint, ‘Wali’ wrote on Facebook, “The unit commander escorted us to a gas station with a little bit of gas left for the military. We were invited to a small restaurant by the roadside”.

He continued, “A hot meal was prepared for us by a lady. The lady was wearing a yellow scarf on her arm, a symbol of Ukrainian fighters. Ukrainians are tough on invaders, but welcoming with those who come to help them”.

‘Wali’ explained that in making his trip he has even missed his son’s first birthday, but described Zelenskyy’s plea as ‘like a firefighter who hears the alarm ringing’, as reported by metro.co.uk.