Former Canadian sniper who goes by the nom de guerre “Wali” sits in a house somewhere in Ukraine close to the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war. Beside him is another foreign fighter, an American veteran, and behind him, a Ukrainian soldier.
Wali has been on the ground in Ukraine since the early days of the Russian invasion, and told the Daily Caller that he’s come close to death several times during the war, including a time when he almost got blown up by a Russian tank.
“There was the smell of death. It’s hard to describe, but you can smell the flesh burning,” Wali said.
Wali gained notoriety after posts on Russian social media allegedly falsely claimed that Wali was the deadliest sniper in the world and that he was killed fighting in action, according to CBC news. He debunked his death by reappearing in an interview, saying, “I pretty much was the last person to learn about my death,” and didn’t have his cellphone with him when the rumors started spreading.
Former Canadian Armed Forces sniper “Wali” says he was the last to learn of his own death in Ukraine. Spoke to him this am. He returned from battling Russian forces on the frontlines in the Kyiv region & learned about a Russian disinformation campaign declaring he was killed. pic.twitter.com/XTIbgemPGT
— Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) March 22, 2022
He was in a forested area with three Ukrainian soldiers and told them to wait in a trench while he went out to survey for Russian tanks, he said. Two of the soldiers got out of the trench and started smoking. (RELATED: Foreign Fighters Describe How Easy It Is To Get Into To Ukraine And Get Weapons)
“There was a huge explosion and my whole body was like ughhhhhh,” Wali said, diving to the side in a reenactment. “And my ears…” he said, making a ringing sound and adding that he saw shrapnel raining down in front of him.
He then looked to his left and saw one of the Ukrainian soldiers “but his legs were gone,” Wali said, mentioning the smell of death. “He was not moving. He was gone,” he added.
“The other [soldier] was two, three meters away,” still alive but with no legs. “He was still breathing, but he was shaken, you could tell he was already in some other world,” Wali said.
“Ten seconds afterwards, the soldier deflated like a balloon, and then he died,” Wali continued.
The third soldier was still in the trench, and was unscratched, but shaken, he said.
Wali and the soldier collected themselves and decided to retreat, because “you have to be smart, if you’re just courageous, fight fight fight fight, you’re going to get killed,” Wali said.
They started running and the Russian tanks kept shooting, he added. He forgot his sniper rifle in the trees, but he went back to retrieve his weapon.
“With tanks, there’s no prep, there’s like, it happens now, and you’re dead … 75% of the time, you are just protecting yourself,” Wali said.
Wali said he had to go to Ukraine and fight because “it’s so obvious, it’s hard to answer. You have a country invading another country” in a situation similar to World War II.