Biography of V.G. Zaitseva
Vasily Zaitsev, legendary sniper , hero Soviet Union about whom several films have been made, was born on the twenty-third of March 1915 in the village of Elenkina, Orenburg province ( Chelyabinsk region), in an ordinary peasant family. WITH early childhood was taught to shoot a hunting rifle by his grandfather Andrei Alekseevich, and at the age of 12 he received a rifle as a gift.
Vasily's incomplete secondary education fit into seven classes, after which the guy entered the construction technical school in Magnitogorsk, which he graduated in 1930. In 1937, he entered service in the Pacific Fleet as a clerk in the artillery department. The Great Patriotic War found him at the post of head of the financial department in Preobrazhenie Bay.
In the summer of 1942, after several reports with a request to be sent to the front, Vasily Zaitsev ended up in the 284th Infantry Division. And in September 1942 he took part in the battle for Stalingrad.
From the very beginning, Vasily Grigorievich showed himself to be a skillful and extraordinary sniper; from a distance of 800 meters he could destroy three opponents at once from an ordinary soldier’s rifle. For courage and outstanding sniper abilities awarded a medal“For courage” and a sniper rifle. The fame of the outstanding sniper spread on all fronts.
Vasily Zaitsev combined many valuable qualities for a fighter and shooter: sensitive hearing, keen vision, endurance, composure and military cunning. Choosing unerringly best positions, knew how to perfectly disguise them and remain invisible to the Germans. In the battle for Stalingrad alone, he accounted for 225 killed Nazis, among whom were eleven snipers.
And the whole world knows about the victorious battle with the experienced German supersniper Heinz Thorwald, sent specifically to destroy Vasily Zaitsev. Since, in turn, Zaitsev was given the task of eliminating Torvald, which was carried out successfully.
In January 1943, the brave sniper was seriously wounded by a mine explosion during the disruption of the Nazi attack on a regiment of our troops near Stalingrad by Zaitsev’s group. He went blind and only after repeated operations with Professor Filatov was able to restore his vision. At the end of February 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Later, Vasily Zaitsev led a sniper school, headed a mortar platoon and then commanded a company. I had the opportunity to take part in such high-profile battles as the Battle of the Dnieper and the liberation of Donbass. Victory found the fighter in a Kiev hospital, where he was being treated after another injury. Vasily Zaitsev became the author of two teaching aids for snipers and one proprietary technique that is still used in sniper hunting - hunting with “sixes”, when three pairs of snipers (observers and shooters) cover the same battle zone.
When the Great Patriotic War ended, Vasily Zaitsev began to live in Kyiv and work as the commandant of the city district. At the same time I entered correspondence department All-Union Institute textile and light industry, then headed the garment factory "Ukraine" and supervised college of light industry. Zaitsev was also invited to participate in testing the Dragunov sniper rifle.
Hero of the USSR Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev died on December 15, 1991, and was buried at the Lukyanovsky cemetery (Kiev), despite his last desire to find his final refuge in the land of Volgograd. His will was fulfilled only on January 31, 2006, when the ashes of the legendary shooter were reburied on Mamayev Kurgan (Volgograd).
Two feature films were made about the great sniper, hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev: “Enemy at the Gates” (2001, USA - Germany - Great Britain) and “Angels of Death” (2002, Russia). Also, a documentary film “Legendary Sniper” (2013, Russia) was shot about his biography.
The mass sniper movement arose in the fall of 1941. And already in January 1942, over 4,200 fighters took part in the “fighter competitions”. More and more often, unplanned “decorations” appeared in German trenches: signs with threatening inscriptions “Caution! A Russian sniper is shooting."
The patriotic movement of fighter snipers arose in parts of the NKVD, a once very formidable department headed by Lavrentiy Beria. Border troops The NKVD, as well as the NKVD fighter battalions and rifle divisions, turned out to be the most prepared for the war with German fascist invaders. Apparently, due to the fact that Beria was subsequently shot as an “enemy of the people,” the feat of the border guards and soldiers of the NKVD divisions was not given due attention in Soviet historiography. But in the border battles with the Nazis, the soldiers in green caps killed six times more enemies than they lost themselves. The Germans never had such a ratio of losses throughout the entire Second World War. Divisions of the NKVD troops played a significant role during the defense of Moscow in the fall of 1941 and in 1942, when the enemy broke through to Stalingrad. Divisions died, sometimes losing more than 80% of their personnel in battles, but did not retreat...
The movement of fighters from the NKVD structure quickly spread to the entire Red Army. It was attended by artillerymen, mortarmen, and tank crews, who learned to hit the enemy like snipers - with the first shot.
On the Stalingrad front it thundered battle glory sniper Vasily Zaitsev.
Who is he - the sniper Zaitsev, who in the period November 10 to December 17, 1942, in the battles for Stalingrad, destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers?
The war found Vasily in the Far East, in Preobrazhenie Bay on Pacific Ocean, where he served as chief sergeant.
He was born into a peasant family in the Urals, worked, graduated from seven-year school, was drafted into Navy. An excellent business executive, a specialist in his field. But then the war began, and he rushes to the front, but not everyone is taken there. There is an enemy at hand in Japan. A million-strong Kwantung Army was stationed in Manchuria on the border with the USSR...
But, apparently, the information of the famous Soviet intelligence officer Richard Sorge, who reached Stalin that Japan had found another enemy in the Far East, and by order of the boss General Staff The Red Army of Marshal Shaposhnikov reached out from Siberia and Far East trains with troops, first to Moscow, and then to Stalingrad. There were not very many troops, but this was the very case about which they say “the spool is small, but expensive.” These were personnel units, well trained and regularly armed. They played a very important role in the war.
As part of a combined detachment of sailors in September 1942, Vasily ended up on the Stalingrad Front, in the 62nd Army of General Chuikov, in the 284th Infantry Division, 1047th Infantry Regiment.
On September 22, 1942, having crossed to the right bank of the Volga, the division’s fighters immediately entered the battle and broke into the territory of the Stalingrad hardware plant. They were opposed by the troops of General Paulus - in Germany they were also called Hitler's guard.
But the Pacific people did not give up, showing unprecedented perseverance. For five days and nights there were fierce battles for every workshop, floor, and flight of stairs. In one of the hand-to-hand battles, Zaitsev received a bayonet wound in the shoulder, but did not leave the battle. His comrade, shell-shocked in battle, was loading a rifle, and Vasily was shooting at the Germans. He shot and didn’t miss. The grandson of the Ural hunter turned out to be a worthy student of his grandfather. Using a simple three-line rifle without a sniper scope, he destroyed 32 Nazis.
“The enemy’s machine gunners inflicted great damage on us,” recalled the hero of Stalingrad. There was no life. At first, wanting to somehow ease the situation, I removed the machine gunners, but they were immediately replaced by new ones. He began to break the sights of machine guns, but this required high accuracy. In the end, it became clear that I alone would not make the difference... By decision of the Komsomol meeting of the regiment, supported by the unit commander, a school was opened in the hardware shops, where I trained the first ten snipers...”
On the front line, the “hares,” as his students were called in the 62nd Army, worked in pairs, backing each other up and primarily knocking out enemy officers, machine gunners, rangefinders, signalmen...
Zaitsev was especially glorified by the sniper duel with the German “super sniper”, whom Vasily himself calls Major Koening in his memoirs (according to other sources, this is the head of the sniper school in Zossen, SS Standartenführer Heinz Thorwald), sent to Stalingrad with special task kill Russian snipers, and first of all - destroy Zaitsev himself. And Vasily, in turn, received the task of destroying the eminent German. After one of the Soviet snipers had his optical sight broken by a bullet, and another in the same area was wounded, Zaitsev still managed to establish the enemy’s position... And Standartenführer Torvald was gone.
In January 1943, Zaitsev was seriously shell-shocked and could no longer see. Saved his vision famous professor Filatov in a Moscow hospital. And on February 22, 1943, Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Vasily Grigoryevich’s story about how in two months of fighting he destroyed 242 Nazis and trained 28 snipers right on the front line (and they eliminated another 1,106 fascists) was published by the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army in a brochure, and Vasily himself was sent to improve his skills at the Higher Rifle Courses command staff"Shot". After graduation, Vasily fought again, took part in the liberation of Donbass and Odessa, the battle for the Dnieper and Berlin operation. And again he was seriously wounded...
Upon recovery comrades in arms they handed him his own sniper rifle on the steps of the Reichstag, which became a relic in his native division and was passed on to the best shooter. Now this rifle is on display at the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad in Volgograd. And the Mauser rifle with a ten-fold Zeiss scope, which belonged to the German Standartenführer, whom Vasily shot in Stalingrad, can be seen in Central Museum Armed forces in Moscow.
In the fall of 1945, Captain Zaitsev was demobilized for health reasons. Six orders and seven wounds. Disabled at the age of thirty... But Vasily did not give up, he graduated from Kyiv technological institute and worked for many years as director of the Ukraina garment factory, one of the largest in the Soviet Union.
ABOUT famous duel Zaitsev and Torvald made two films: “Angels of Death” by Russian director Yu. N. Ozerov in 1992 and the film “Enemy at the Gates” by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud in 2001. Vasily Grigorievich died on December 15, 1991 and was buried in Kyiv at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery, and on January 31, 2006, his ashes were solemnly reburied in Volgograd on the Mamayev Kurgan.
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Born on March 23, 1915 in the village of Elininsk, Agapovsky district, Chelyabinsk region. He graduated from 7 classes and a construction technical school in Magnitogorsk, where he received a specialty in fittings. Since 1937 he served in Pacific Fleet(clerk of the artillery department). After studying at the Military Economic School, he was appointed head of the financial department of the Pacific Fleet, in Preobrazhenye Bay. It was in this position that he met the war.
By the summer of 1942, Sergeant Major 1st Article V.G. Zaitsev submitted 5 reports to send him to the front. From September 21, 1942 to active army, defended Stalingrad. Already in the first fights he showed himself to be a marksman (and not surprisingly: from the age of 12 he went hunting alone). He destroyed his first enemies with a simple “three-ruler” rifle, then he was given a sniper rifle. By order of the troops of the 62nd Army No. 39/n dated October 25, 1942, for 40 destroyed enemies, the chief foreman of the 1st article, V. G. Zaitsev, was awarded the medal “For Courage.”
Zaitsev combined all the qualities inherent in a sniper: visual acuity, sensitive hearing, restraint, composure, endurance, military cunning. He knew how to choose the best positions and disguise them; usually hid from the Nazis in places where they could not even guess his location. November 2, 1942 sniper of the 1047th Infantry Regiment (284th Infantry Division, 62nd Army Stalingrad Front) V. G. Zaitsev was presented with the Order of Lenin for the destruction of 110 enemy soldiers and officers. By order of the troops of the Stalingrad Front No. 100/n dated December 4, 1942, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
During the period from November 10 to December 17, 1942, in the battles for Stalingrad, he destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers. For these exploits, on December 18, 1942, junior lieutenant V.G. Zaitsev was presented by the command to highest degree differences in the country. In January 1943, while carrying out the order of the division commander to disrupt a German attack on the right-flank regiment with a sniper group of 13 people, Zaitsev was seriously wounded and blinded by a mine explosion. Only on February 10, 1943, after several operations performed in Moscow by Professor Filatov, his vision returned. By that time, his official account included 242 destroyed enemies (some sources round this figure to 245). By Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR on February 22, 1943, junior lieutenant Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and medal " Gold Star" (№ 801).
Since April 1944 - again in the active army (3rd Ukrainian Front). On May 10, 1944, while repelling an attack by enemy infantry and tanks towards the location of the division headquarters command post, he personally destroyed 18 enemies and was again seriously wounded. For this battle he was presented with the order Patriotic War 1st degree. By order of the 8th troops Guards Army 1st Belorussian Front No. 383/n dated October 10, 1944, Guard Senior Lieutenant V.G. Zaitsev was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner.
Throughout the war, Vasily Zaitsev served in the army, in whose ranks he began his combat career, headed a sniper school, commanded a mortar platoon, then was commander of a separate anti-aircraft machine gun company of the 79th Guards rifle division. He crushed the enemy in the Donbass, participated in the battle for the Dnieper, fought near Odessa and on the Dniester. During the war years, he wrote 2 textbooks for snipers, and also invented the still used technique of sniper hunting with “sixes” - when 3 pairs of snipers (a shooter and an observer) cover the same battle zone with fire. May 1945, Captain V.G. Zaitsev met the Guard in Kyiv - again in the hospital.
He visited Berlin after the end of the war. There I met with friends who had gone through the battle route from the Volga to the Spree. In a solemn ceremony, V.G. Zaitsev was presented with his sniper rifle with the inscription: “To the Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev, who buried more than 300 fascists in Stalingrad.” Nowadays this rifle is kept in the Volgograd Museum of City Defense. Next to it there is a sign: “During the period of street fighting in the city, sniper of the 284th Infantry Division V.G. Zaitsev used this rifle to destroy more than 300 Nazis, trained sniper art 28 Soviet soldiers. When Zaitsev was wounded, this rifle was given to the best snipers of the unit." According to materials Soviet press, Vasily Zaitsev’s final battle score is “more than 300” enemies destroyed. Most likely, this number includes enemies he destroyed not only with a sniper rifle (as the last award sheet states that on May 10, 1944 he personally destroyed 18 enemies, but it is not specified what type of weapon: rifle, machine gun, machine gun...)
After the war, V.G. Zaitsev was demobilized for health reasons and lived in Kyiv. At first he was the commandant of the Pechersk region. Studied in absentia at the All-Union Institute of Textile and light industry, became an engineer. He worked as director of a machine-building plant, director of the "Ukraine" clothing factory, and headed the light industry technical school. He died on December 15, 1991, and was buried in Kyiv at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery. On January 31, 2006, the ashes of Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev were transported to the hero city of Volgograd and solemnly reburied on Mamayev Kurgan. By decision of the Volgograd City Council people's deputies dated May 7, 1980 for special services shown in the defense of the city and the defeat Nazi troops in the Battle of Stalingrad awarded the title " Honorary Citizen hero city of Volgograd." The name of the Hero is on a ship plying along the Dnieper.
Awarded the orders: Lenin (02/22/1943), Red Banner (12/04/1942, 10/10/1944), Patriotic War 1st degree (03/11/1985); medals.
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From the materials of V. G. Zaitsev’s award sheets:
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Famous sniper during World War II. Streets are named after him, most people in the post-Soviet space know about him. History remembers Vasily as one of the most effective shooters.
Vasily Zaitsev: biography
Vasily was born on March 23, 1915 in the village of Eleninka, Orenburg region(now Chelyabinsk) in an ordinary peasant family. Studied at rural school, where he graduated from 7th grade. At the age of 15 he had already graduated from construction technical school, where he trained as a fitter.
Since childhood, Vasily’s grandfather, Andrei, often took him and his brother hunting with him. Already at the age of 12, the future sniper had a gun. The grandfather taught his grandchildren the intricacies of hunting, tracking, patience and shooting sense. Perhaps these lessons predetermined Vasily’s future.
In 1937, Vasily Zaitsev served as a clerk in the Pacific Fleet. Then he undergoes training in accounting and continues to serve as the head of the financial department. With the outbreak of war, he asks the command to send him to the front. After 5 reports he gets the go-ahead. And 27-year-old Vasily is sent to the zone of the most fierce and bloody battles - to Stalingrad. Later, in a city on the Volga where the Nazi invasion was stopped, he will say his famous phrase: “There is no land for us beyond the Volga. We have stood and will stand to the death!”
Sniper of the 62nd Army
Before the front, Vasily underwent some training. From the first days, he proved himself to be an extremely accurate shooter, killing 3 Nazis from a distance of almost a kilometer with an ordinary rifle. The command transferred him to the sniper group. There he received a sniper - a mass-produced weapon, quite simple. From it, Zaitsev managed to destroy 32 invaders. After this, the rookie sniper becomes famous among the entire group of troops.
Hunt for the hunter
In almost one month, Vasily kills 225 fascists. Rumors about him are spreading throughout the country and even around the world. In the partially occupied and almost completely destroyed Stalingrad, the name of Zaitsev is of particular importance. He becomes a real hero, one of the symbols of resistance. Leaflets with new achievements of the shooter are regularly distributed among the population and personnel of the Red Army.
The Nazi leadership hears rumors about Vasily Zaitsev. They understand his importance in propaganda terms, so they send their best ace sniper on a mission to kill the Soviet marksman. This ace was Major König (according to other sources - Heinz Thorwald, possibly König's call sign). He trained snipers in special school and was a true professional. Immediately upon arrival, he wounds one Red Army rifleman and falls into the weapon of another. Regular sniper rifles zoom in 3-4 times, since working with high magnification is already difficult for the shooter. The magnification on the Nazi major’s rifle was tenfold! This speaks volumes about Koenig's professionalism and virtuosity.
Fight with the Major
Having learned about the arrival of a super sniper in the city, the Soviet leadership gives the order to destroy him personally to Zaitsev; later this battle will be considered legendary. It reflected not only the battle of two snipers, but also the battle of two peoples, two ideologies.
After long tracking, Vasily discovered Koenig's position. The long wait paid off: a ray of sun momentarily reflected from the German’s optics. This was enough for Vasily; a second later the Nazi fell dead. Soviet propaganda joyfully told the people: Vasily Zaitsev won. The Hero of the Soviet Union will later describe in detail
After the war he remained to live in Kyiv. He worked as a manager at a clothing factory.
Died in 1991. 15 years later he was reburied with honors in Stalingrad, as he had bequeathed.
Vasily Zaitsev: film
The figure of the Soviet sniper was widely reflected in culture: many documentaries and a considerable number of works have been written. Most famous feature film about Vasily Zaitsev - "Enemy at the Gates" American production. Jude Law plays the role of Zaitsev.
Main storyline revolves around the fight between Vasily Zaitsev and Koenig. There is also a parallel love story with a sniper girl and Vasily’s friend. Shot in 2001, the film boasts magnificent visual effects. Scene of crossing the Volga and landing Soviet troops in Stalingrad turned out to be extremely colorful and catchy. She demonstrates heavy losses Soviet troops: blood everywhere, the dead lying next to the living, pain, screams, panic. The scenery of Stalingrad itself also turned out quite good: devastation, concrete desert - it all looks very atmospheric. A large crowd allows you to appreciate the scale of the battles.
But the film was shot by Americans, so there was some propaganda involved. The Soviet leadership is shown entirely as cowards, bloodthirsty killers, and tyrants. The scene when newly arrived recruits launch a frontal attack on a tank with one rifle between them, and then the commanders shoot their own in the back, makes you think. There are also a number of inconsistencies. For example, the commander of Zaitsev and the entire Stalingrad Front was Khrushchev, who in reality was not even close there. It’s just that the colorful figure of Nikita Sergeevich is very familiar to American people.
"Enemy at the Gates" is a good movie from a purely technical point of view, but spoiled by propaganda. However, if you ignore the obvious American component, you can watch it with pleasure.
In 1942, during the brutal battles for Stalingrad Soviet snipers dealt sensitive blows to the Germans.
Skillfully camouflaging themselves, patiently waiting, they lay in wait for the enemy at the most unexpected moment and destroyed him with one well-aimed shot.
Vasily Zaitsev especially annoyed the Nazis.
Vasily Zaitsev – famous sniper 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front, Hero of the Soviet Union, best sniper Battle of Stalingrad. During this battle from November 10 to December 17, 1942, he destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers.
In order to reduce the activity of Russian snipers and thus raise the morale of their soldiers, German command decides to send the head of the Berlin sniper squad, SS Colonel Heinz Thorwald, to the city on the Volga to destroy the “main Russian hare.”
Torvald, transported to the front by plane, immediately challenged Zaitsev, shooting down two Soviet snipers with single shots.
Now I'm worried and Soviet command upon learning of the arrival German ace. The commander of the 284th Infantry Division, Colonel Batyuk, ordered his snipers to eliminate Heinz at any cost.
The task was not easy. First of all, it was necessary to find a German, study his behavior, habits, handwriting. And this is all for one single shot.
Thanks to his vast experience, Zaitsev perfectly studied the handwriting of enemy snipers. By the camouflage and firing of each of them, he could determine their character, experience, and courage. But Colonel Thorvald puzzled him. It was impossible to even understand in which sector of the front he was operating. Most likely, he changes positions quite often, acts with great caution, tracking down the enemy himself.
One day at dawn, together with his partner Nikolai Kuznetsov, Zaitsev took a secret position in the area where their comrades had been wounded the day before. But the whole day of observation did not bring any results.
But suddenly a helmet appeared above the enemy trench and began to slowly move along the trench. But her swaying was somehow unnatural. “Bait,” Vasily realized. But for the whole day not a single movement was noticed. This means that the German lay in a hidden position all day without giving himself away. From this ability to be patient, Zaitsev realized that in front of him was the head of a sniper school. On the second day, the fascist again showed nothing of himself.
Then we began to understand that this was the same guest from Berlin.
The third morning at the position began as usual. A battle was breaking out nearby. But the Soviet snipers did not move and only observed the enemy positions. But political instructor Danilov, who went with them into the ambush, could not stand it. Having decided that he had noticed the enemy, he leaned out of the trench quite a bit and just for a second. This was enough for the enemy shooter to notice him, take aim and shoot him. Fortunately, the political instructor only wounded him. It was clear that only a master of his craft could shoot like that. This convinced Zaitsev and Kuznetsov that it was the guest from Berlin who fired and, judging by the speed of the shot, was right in front of them. But where exactly?
SMART SNIPER ZAYTSEV
There is a bunker on the right, but the embrasure in it is closed. There is a damaged tank on the left, but an experienced shooter will not climb there. Between them, on a flat area, lies a piece of metal, covered with a pile of bricks. Moreover, it has been lying there for a long time, the eye has become accustomed to it, and you won’t even notice it right away. Maybe a German under the leaf?
Zaitsev put his mitten on his stick and raised it above the parapet. A shot and an accurate hit. Vasily lowered the bait in the same position as he raised it. The bullet entered smoothly, without drift. Like a German under a sheet of iron.
The next challenge is to get him to open up. But today it is useless to do this. It’s okay, the enemy sniper will not leave the successful position. It's not in his character. The Russians definitely need to change their position.
The next night we took a new position and began to wait for dawn. In the morning, a new battle between infantry units broke out. Kulikov fired at random, illuminating his cover and piqued the interest of the enemy shooter. Then they rested throughout the first half of the day, waiting for the sun to turn around, leaving their shelter in the shadows, and illuminating the enemy’s with direct rays
Suddenly, right in front of the leaf, something sparkled. Optical sight. Kulikov slowly began to lift his helmet. The shot clicked. Kulikov screamed, stood up and immediately fell without moving.
The German committed fatal mistake, without counting the second sniper. He leaned out a little from under cover right under Vasily Zaitsev’s bullet.
Thus ended this sniper duel, which became famous at the front and was included in the list of classic techniques of snipers around the world.
By the way, curiously, the hero of the Battle of Stalingrad Vasily Zaitsev did not immediately become a sniper.
When it became clear that Japan would not start a war against the USSR, troops began to be transferred from Siberia and the Far East to German front. This is how Vasily Zaitsev fell under Stalingrad. Initially, he was an ordinary infantryman-shooter of the famous 62nd Army of V.I. Chuikova. But he was distinguished by enviable accuracy.
September 22, 1942 The division in which Zaitsev served broke into the territory of the Stalingrad hardware plant and took up defensive positions there. Zaitsev received a bayonet wound, but did not leave the line. Having asked his shell-shocked comrade to load the rifle, Zaitsev continued to fire. And, despite being wounded and lacking a sniper scope, he destroyed 32 Nazis in that battle. The grandson of the Ural hunter turned out to be a worthy student of his grandfather.
“For us, the soldiers and commanders of the 62nd Army, there is no land beyond the Volga. We have stood and will stand to the death!” V. Zaitsev
Zaitsev combined all the qualities inherent in a sniper - visual acuity, sensitive hearing, restraint, composure, endurance, military cunning. He knew how to choose the best positions and disguise them; usually hid from enemy soldiers in places where they could not even imagine a Russian sniper. The famous sniper beat the enemy mercilessly.
Only in the period from November 10 to December 17, 1942, in the battles for Stalingrad, V.G. Zaitsev destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers, and his comrades in arms in the 62nd Army - 6000.
V. Zaitsev died on December 15, 1991. He was buried in Kyiv at the Lukyanovskoye military cemetery, although his last wish was to be buried in the Stalingrad land that he defended.
On January 31, 2006, the ashes of Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev were solemnly reburied in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan.
