For months, a team of 20 Ukrainian snipers, known as the Ghosts of Bakhmut, has been tirelessly eliminating Russian forces in a eastern Ukrainian city utterly destroyed by intense combat.
'Ghosts Of Bakhmut': Ukraine's Snipers On The 'Zero Line'
A Ukrainian soldier with the call sign "Kuzya," part of the elite Ghosts of Bakhmut unit, checks his scope before embarking on a mission mere hundreds of meters from Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on September 25.
Russia's unprovoked invasion of its neighbor has morphed into a grinding conflict of long-range artillery duels and trench warfare. However, Kuzya believes snipers are vital to helping Ukrainian troops advance.
Weapons used by Ukraine's sniper team. The unit's commander, wearing a "Ghosts of Bakhmut" T-shirt, said his group had a total of 558 confirmed kills.
Kuzya inspects his weapon. A tall and broad 31-year-old with blue eyes, he declined to say how many Russian soldiers he has killed. He admits that he suffered from nerves the first time he fired a sniper rifle for real, only succeeding on the third shot. But he has not had this problem since.
"There can't be any doubt about pulling the trigger," he said. "Hell, as far as I'm concerned, he's the enemy! He came to my home. I didn't go to his."
Kuzya (center), trained at Ukraine's sniper school under experienced fighters, but praised his Russian counterparts.
Another member of Kuzya's team prepares to head out. The team, made up entirely of men, spends most of their time crawling through the rubble of former homes, where they train their infrared sights on Russian targets. The team is often the main "eyes" of an infantry operation.
Kuzya's three-member team is composed of his driver, Kusch, and a third man who will take over if Kusch is killed.
"Usually, thank God, everything is clear," said Kusch, who used to work in footwear near Kyiv.
The commander who put together the sniper team chose them on the basis of psychological and mental strength, gauging, "If you were a resilient person, if you can take psychological pressure," Kuzya said.
It was also important that "we could work with one another and understand each other."
A file photo of the destroyed city of Bakhmut, where renewed fighting has intensified.
Unlike in the movies, snipers do not always seek out elevated positions; instead, they opt for well-protected and hidden places that offer the best field of view.