The legendary sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev. Vasily Zaitsev: the unknown story of the legendary sniper Sniper duel in Stalingrad

W Aitsev Vasily Grigoryevich - sniper of the 1047th Infantry Regiment of the 284th Infantry Division of the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front, junior lieutenant.

Born March 23, 1915 in the village of Elininsk, Agapovsky District, Chelyabinsk Region, in a peasant family. Russian. Member of the CPSU (b) / CPSU since 1943. He graduated from seven classes of incomplete secondary school. In 1930 he graduated from a construction technical school in the city of Magnitogorsk, where he received the specialty of a fitter.

Since 1937 he served in the Pacific Fleet, where he was enrolled as a clerk in the artillery department. A diligent, disciplined sailor was accepted into the Komsomol. After studying at the Military School of Economics, he was appointed head of the financial unit in the Pacific Fleet, in Preobrazhenye Bay. In this position, he was caught by the war.

By the summer of 1942, the foreman of the 1st article, Zaitsev, had already filed five reports with a request to send him to the front. Finally, the commander granted his request and Zaitsev left for the active army. On a dark September night in 1942, together with other Pacific soldiers, Zaitsev crossed the Volga and began to participate in the battles for the city.

Already in the first battles with the enemy, Zaitsev showed himself to be an outstanding shooter. Once the battalion commander called Zaitsev and pointed out the window. A fascist fled 800 meters away. The sailor took careful aim. A shot rang out - and the German fell. A few minutes later, two more invaders appeared at the same place. They suffered the same fate. As a reward, Zaitsev, along with the medal "For Courage", received a sniper rifle. By that time, from a simple "three-line" Zaitsev killed 32 Nazis. Soon they started talking about him in the regiment, division, army.

Zaitsev combined all the qualities inherent in a sniper - visual acuity, sensitive hearing, endurance, composure, endurance, military cunning. He knew how to choose the best positions, to mask them; usually hiding from the Nazis where they could not even assume a Soviet 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.

One day, Zaitsev made his way to a burned-out house and climbed into a dilapidated black stove. From this unusual position, two entrances to the enemy dugouts and the approach to the basement of the house where the Germans cooked food were clearly visible. 10 fascists were killed by a sniper that day.

One dark night, Zaitsev made his way to the front along a narrow path. Somewhere not far away, a fascist sniper took refuge; it must be destroyed. For about 20 minutes, Zaitsev examined the area, but the lurking enemy "hunter" could not be found. Clinging tightly to the wall of the barn, the sailor stuck out his mitten; she was violently yanked out of her hand.

After examining the hole, he moved to another place and did the same. And another shot. Zaitsev clung to the stereo tube. I began to scan the area carefully. A shadow flickered on one of the hills. Here! Now we need to lure the fascist and take aim. Zaitsev lay in ambush all night. At dawn, the German sniper was destroyed.

The actions of the Soviet snipers alarmed the enemies, and they decided to take urgent measures. When our scouts captured the prisoner, he reported that the European champion in bullet shooting, the head of the Berlin school of snipers, Major Koenig, had been delivered by plane to the Stalingrad region from Berlin, who had received the task of killing, first of all, the "main" Soviet sniper.

The fascist sniper who appeared on the front was experienced and cunning. He often changed positions, settled either in a water tower, or in a wrecked tank, or in a pile of bricks. Daily observations did not give anything definite. It was difficult to say where the fascist was.

But here an incident happened. The enemy smashed the optical sight to Ural Morozov, and wounded the soldier Shaikin. Morozov and Shaikin were considered experienced snipers, they often emerged victorious in complex and difficult battles with the enemy. There was no doubt now - they stumbled upon the fascist "super-sniper" whom Zaitsev was looking for.

Zaitsev went to the position previously occupied by his students and friends. Together with him was a faithful front-line friend Nikolai Kulikov. On the front edge, every bump, every stone is familiar. Where could the enemy hide? Zaitsev's attention was attracted by a pile of bricks and a sheet of iron next to it. It was here that the Berlin "guest" could find refuge.

Nikolai Kulikov waited all the time for the order to shoot in order to attract the attention of the enemy. And Zaitsev watched. So the whole day passed.

Before dawn, the warriors again set out to ambush. Zaitsev in one trench, Kulikov in another. Between them is a rope for signals. Time dragged on. Planes were flying in the sky. Somewhere nearby, shells and mines were exploding. But Zaitsev paid no attention to anything. He did not take his eyes off the iron sheet.

When dawn broke and the positions of the enemy were clearly marked, Zaitsev pulled the rope. At this prearranged signal, his comrade picked up the mitten put on the board. From the other side, the expected shot did not follow. An hour later, Kulikov raised his mitten again. The long-awaited bang of a rifle shot rang out. The hole confirmed Zaitsev's assumption: the fascist was under an iron sheet. Now we had to take aim at him.

However, you can’t rush: you can scare away. Zaitsev and Kulikov changed their position. They watched all night. The first half of the next day was also waited out. And in the afternoon, when the direct rays of the sun fell on the position of the enemy, and the rifles of our snipers were in the shade, fighting friends began to act. Here, at the edge of the iron sheet, something shone. Random glass shard? No. It was the optical sight of a Nazi sniper's rifle.

Kulikov carefully, as an experienced sniper can do, began to raise his helmet. The fascist fired. The helmet fell. The German, apparently, concluded that he won the duel - he killed the Soviet sniper, whom he hunted for 4 days. Deciding to test the result of his shot, he poked half his head out of hiding. And then Zaitsev pulled the trigger. Hit it right. The fascist's head sank, and the optical sight of his rifle, without moving, shone in the sun until evening.

As soon as it got dark, our units went on the attack. Behind a sheet of iron, the soldiers found the corpse of a fascist officer. It was Major Koenig, head of the Berlin sniper school.

Vasily Zaitsev did not have a chance to celebrate the day of the victorious end of the grandiose Battle of Stalingrad together with his fighting friends. In January 1943, following the order of the division commander to disrupt the German attack on the right-flank regiment by the forces of the Zaitsev sniper group, which at that time had only 13 people, he was seriously wounded and blinded by a mine explosion. Only on February 10, 1943, after several operations performed in Moscow by Professor Filatov, did his sight return.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 22, 1943, for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown to the junior lieutenant Zaitsev Vasily Grigorievich He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Throughout the war, V.G. Zaitsev served in the army, in the ranks of which he began his military career, headed the school of snipers, commanded a mortar platoon, then was a company commander. He crushed the enemy in the Donbass, participated in the battle for the Dnieper, fought near Odessa and on the Dniester. May 1945 Captain V.G. Zaitsev met in Kiev - again in the hospital.

During the war years, V.G. Zaitsev wrote two textbooks for snipers, and also invented the still used method of sniper hunting by "sixes" - when three pairs of snipers (shooter and observer) cover the same battle zone with fire.

He visited Berlin after the end of the war. There he met with friends who had gone through a military path from the Volga to the Spree. In a solemn ceremony, Zaitsev was handed his sniper rifle with the inscription: "Hero of the Soviet Union Zaitsev Vasily, who buried more than 300 fascists in Stalingrad."

Now this rifle is stored in the Volgograd City Defense Museum. A sign is placed next to it: "During the street fighting in the city, the sniper of the 284th Infantry Division V.G. Zaitsev destroyed more than 300 Nazis from this rifle, taught 28 Soviet soldiers the art of sniping. During the wounding of Zaitsev, this rifle was handed over to the best snipers of the unit" .

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, he was demobilized and settled in Kiev. At first he was the commandant of the Pechersk region. He studied in absentia at the All-Union Institute of Textile and Light Industry, became an engineer. He worked as the director of a machine-building plant, director of the garment factory "Ukraine", headed the technical school of light industry.

He died on December 15, 1991. He was buried in Kiev at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery, although his last wish was to be buried in the Stalingrad land, which he defended.

On January 31, 2006, the ashes of Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev were transferred to the hero city of Volgograd, and solemnly reburied on Mamaev Kurgan.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin (02/22/1943), 2 Orders of the Red Banner (12/04/1942; 10/10/1944), the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree (03/11/1985), medals, including "For Courage" (10/25/1942) .

By the decision of the Volgograd City Council of People's Deputies of May 7, 1980, he was awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of the Hero City of Volgograd" for special merits shown in the defense of the city and the defeat of the Nazi troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The name of the Hero is the ship that cruised along the Dnieper. In the city of Yaroslavl, a bust of the Hero was erected at the memorial to military financiers.

About sniper V.G. Zaitsev made two films. "Angels of Death", 1992, director Yu.N. Ozerov, starring Fyodor Bondarchuk, and Enemy at the Gates, 2001, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Jude Law as Zaitsev.

Composition:
There was no land for us beyond the Volga. M., 1981.

Vasily Zaitsev is a famous Soviet sniper who became famous during the Battle of Stalingrad. During the street battles for the city, he single-handedly defeated more than two hundred soldiers of the German army. He was part of the 62nd army of the front. With vast experience, this sniper learned the strategy of the enemy army, which allowed him to repel attacks for two months. At the same time, he managed not only to fight off the enemy, but he himself took active offensive actions.

Life before the war

Vasily Zaitsev was born into a peasant family in 1915 in the Orenburg province. From early childhood, he learned to shoot under the guidance of his grandfather and soon became an excellent shooter. He said that his grandfather, being a Ural hunter, taught him to walk on the beast. The child mastered all the intricacies of the hunting craft, which later helped him in the war. The boy received an incomplete secondary education, then entered the construction college in Magnitogorsk.

Seven years later, in 1937, the future hero of the Soviet Union entered the Navy in the artillery department as a clerk. In the service, he strictly followed discipline, was diligent and accurate, for which he was enrolled in the Komsomol. Vasily Zaitsev also studied at the Military Economic School, so after a while he was appointed head of the economic unit in the Pacific Fleet.

Service at the beginning of the war

The sniper applied several times for voluntary participation in hostilities. From the fifth time, his request was granted, and he left for the army. In September 1942, together with his colleagues, he crossed the Volga River and began to participate in the battles. Already at the very beginning of hostilities, he showed himself to be an outstanding shooter. Vasily Zaitsev hit the enemy the first time, for which he soon received the award "For Courage".

Soon he became known to the entire regiment. He received a sniper rifle, from which he hit many enemies. The fighter was distinguished not only by unusual accuracy, but also by cunning, the ability to disguise himself, to hide in the most unusual places. The soldier knew how to hide in those places where his presence could not be expected.

Memories of the Battle of Stalingrad

He left memoirs in which he tells about the first combat experience on this front. According to him, at first he had to fight with all the other soldiers on an equal footing. Several times he met the Germans hand-to-hand on the outskirts of the city and subsequently attached great importance to those days when he first found himself in a combat position and took a direct part in the battle. His memoirs contain a lot of valuable information about the situation that was in the city during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Vasily Zaitsev (sniper) - Hero of the Soviet Union, took part in the defense of the famous city plant "Red October". In the first months, he, along with his colleagues, had to fight with enemies who were hiding in basements and sewer manholes, which greatly complicated the operation to liberate the city.

Duel with a German fighter

Vasily Zaitsev (sniper) fought with the head of the German school of shooters, H. Torvald, who was sent to the city specifically to fight Soviet soldiers. His task was to destroy the Soviet soldier himself. The latter recalled that it was a very difficult battle, but he, along with his colleagues, managed to find a good position that allowed them to defeat the enemy. Torvald carefully studied the tactics of Soviet snipers and their combat positions.

For a while he acted quietly, undercover. He began to attack suddenly, and Zaitsev's best students fell under his blows - three fighters. However, the German fell into the trap of Vasily Grigorievich - a mannequin doll, a trick that he often used during battles. According to historians, the enemy of the Soviet soldiers turned out to be very experienced, and his rifle was equipped with the latest technology. Therefore, the victory that Vasily Zaitsev (sniper) won was very significant for raising the morale of Soviet soldiers.

Features of tactics

He developed a special style of fighting in a besieged city. He usually led small groups to combat positions, but forbade his fighters to immediately strike the enemy. Invariably, his main goal was to defeat the representatives of the high command. Therefore, whenever his groups met with enemy forces, the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev waited some time before the command officers appeared. Then he gave the order to open fire. In the implementation of this strategy, the soldier pursued the goal of defeating those who directly led the operations in order to behead the enemy.

Zaitsev also has the merit of using the so-called group hunting for the enemy. The essence of the tactics was that the members of the group took aim at the most important points of the Nazis and, when they appeared on the battle zone, they unexpectedly opened fire. This method fully justified itself, and the German offensive was thwarted. Zaitsev was sometimes so carried away that he once went into the open against the German infantry. Fortunately, the enemy fired a volley without looking, and the sniper survived, but was badly wounded. The legendary fighter rose to the rank of captain during the war years.

Shooting technique

The legendary hero used special methods in the course of combat operations. So, even in the absence of an enemy, he figured out and calculated, like an experienced hunter, a possible place for the appearance of the enemy, so that he could hit for sure during a sortie. He was constantly developing new shooting strategies, realizing that his habits could be learned by the enemy and, therefore, could one day be played against him. This skill of the Soviet soldier made him world famous, as evidenced by the film dedicated to him. Vasily Zaitsev (sniper) was known throughout the regiment for his extraordinary ingenuity.

One of his most famous tricks was that he made a model of a doll, while he himself hid nearby, tracking down the enemy. When the latter revealed himself with a shot, Zaitsev began to wait until he came closer. At the same time, he could wait an infinitely long time, regardless of the circumstances.

Service in the following years of the war

The following year, he took part in a special operation to disrupt the enemy attack on the right flank. During the fighting, he was seriously wounded and blinded. However, after a complex operation, his sight returned to him again. He led a mortar regiment and was also director of a sniper school. The remaining years of the war, he fought on the Ukrainian front, took part in many operations to liberate the country's largest cities. The future hero made a great contribution to the theory of sniper training. Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev himself wrote two textbooks on combat, in which he outlined his observations on the implementation of cover operations for military groups with arrows and special observation formations.

Personal life

The story about Vasily Zaitsev may be of interest to schoolchildren, so a story about his biography can be given to students as a report. For some time he worked at a car factory, where he met his wife, whose name was Zinaida Sergeevna. She served as secretary of the Politburo at a machine factory. An interesting fact is that the legendary sniper retained accuracy until old age. It is known that he always adhered to the rule of not firing a single extra shot. The only exception was the Victory Parade, during which he saluted with weapons. When he was already 65 years old, he took part as a guest of honor in shooting competitions and beat all the young participants, hitting the top ten three times, after which the main prize was awarded to him, and not to the players themselves.

Meaning

The role of the legendary fighter is difficult to overestimate. He was, in fact, the initiator of the sniper movement in our country. This was fully manifested during the Patriotic War. Zaitsev created his own school and trained his soldiers right on the battlefield. It is indicative that he wrote his scientific manuals right during the conduct of hostilities. After being wounded, while being treated, he shared his experience with representatives of the General Staff, as well as with the Institute for the Study of War. He brought up a whole generation of students who proved to be outstanding fighters on the fronts. One of his pupils, V. Medvedev, also became famous as a talented sniper, who, in turn, trained a new combat group.

Rifle history and exhibition

In the year of the Victory, the Soviet command presented Zaitsev with a personalized rifle as a reward, which gained some fame thanks to its owner.

An interesting fact is that the famous fighter received it in Berlin during the capture of the city by the Red Army. The weapon was kept in the Kiev museum, and then was transferred to Volgograd. A whole exposition was devoted to Zaitsev himself, where his weapons, personal documents, and photographs were exhibited. However, there is a plan to turn this personal exhibition into an exposition on the Battle of Stalingrad.

Confession

Zaitsev received several prestigious awards. His most important achievement is receiving the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, he was awarded several medals, including the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree. It should also be mentioned that the streets in different cities are named after him, the ship, as well as many competitions in sniper shooting are dedicated to his name.

After the war

After 1945 he settled in Kiev, where he continued his service. He served as commandant of the Pechersk region. In addition to military activities, this man is also famous for his contribution to the development of industry. He held a number of prominent positions in factories and plants, was the director of a textile technical school. Hero of the Soviet Union Zaitsev Vasily continued to work in the military industry in subsequent years.

He took part in testing the Dragunov sniper rifle. The legendary sniper died in 1991 in Kiev, bequeathed to bury his ashes in Stalingrad. This request was fulfilled only in 2006, when his remains were buried on Mamaev Kurgan.

Image in painting

Zaitsev is depicted in the famous panorama dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. This indicates how important his figure was for the Soviet people. His image was used in ideological propaganda. The picture was created in 1944, that is, during the war. The main part of the composition is occupied by the defense and defense of Mamaev Kurgan; in this operation, as mentioned above, the famous sniper took an important part.

In film art

In addition, the hero of the cinema was Vasily Zaitsev. A film about him was made in 2001. The famous British actor D. Low starred in the title role. The tape was based on the famous episode of the confrontation between a fighter and a German major. The critics reacted with restraint to this film, because, according to a number of reviewers, the role of ordinary defenders of the city was belittled in the film. In addition, the documentary film "Legendary Sniper" is dedicated to the image of the famous fighter (release date - 2013). Such an interest in the personality of the hero testifies to how great his importance was not only for the Soviet army, but also for world military history. It should also be mentioned about the domestic film, the main character of which is the sniper Ivan. The prototype of this character was Zaitsev and his military biography. The role was played by the famous actor F. Bondarchuk.

The legendary sniper of the Great Patriotic War Vasily Zaitsev during the Battle of Stalingrad, for a month and a half, destroyed more than two hundred German soldiers and officers, including 11 snipers.

Warrior

The war found Vasily Zaitsev in the service of the Pacific Fleet in the position of head of the financial department, to which he was appointed thanks to his education. But Vasily, who received his first hunting rifle as a gift from his grandfather at the age of 12, did not even think of sitting out in the accounting department. He wrote five reports with a request to send him to the front. Finally, the commander heeded the requests, and Zaitsev left for the army to defend his homeland. The future sniper was enrolled in the 284th Infantry Division.

Deserved "sniper"

After a short military training, Vasily, along with other Pacific people, crossed the Volga and took part in the battles for Stalingrad. From the very first meetings with the enemy, Zaitsev proved himself to be an outstanding shooter. With the help of a simple "three-ruler" he skillfully killed an enemy soldier. In the war, the wise hunting advice of his grandfather was very useful to him. Later, Vasily will say that one of the main qualities of a sniper is the ability to disguise himself and be invisible. This quality is necessary for any good hunter.
Just a month later, Vasily Zaitsev received the medal "For Courage" for his combat zeal, and in addition to it ... a sniper rifle! By this time, the well-aimed hunter had already disabled 32 enemy soldiers.

sniper savvy

A good sniper is a live sniper. The feat of a sniper is that he does his job again and again. To succeed in this difficult task, you need to perform a feat every day and every minute: beat the enemy and stay alive!

Vasily Zaitsev firmly knew that the template is the way to death. Therefore, he constantly came up with new models of hunting. Hunting for another hunter is especially dangerous, but even here our soldier has always been at his best. Vasily, as if in a chess game, outplayed his opponents. For example, he made a realistic sniper puppet, while he himself disguised himself nearby. As soon as the enemy revealed himself with a shot, Vasily began to patiently wait for him to appear from cover. And time didn't matter to him.

From ingenuity to science

Zaitsev commanded a sniper group and, taking care of the growth of their and his professional skills, accumulated a lot of didactic material, which later made it possible to write two textbooks for snipers. Once, two shooters, returning from a firing position, met their commander. The punctual Germans left for lunch, which means you can take a break yourself - you still can’t catch anyone in the crosshairs of the sight. But Zaitsev noticed that now is the time to shoot. It turns out that even when there was no one to shoot at, a smart hunter calmly calculated the distances to the places where the enemy might appear and entered them in a notebook so that, on occasion, without wasting a second, hit the target. After all, there may not be another chance.

Duel with a German "super sniper"

The Soviet shooter greatly annoyed the German "machine", so the German command sent its best shooter from Berlin to the Stalingrad front: the head of the sniper school. The German ace was given the task of destroying the "Russian hare". In turn, Vasily received an order to destroy the German "super sniper". A game of cat and mouse began between them. By the actions of the German, Vasily realized that he was dealing with a seasoned professional. But as a result of several days of mutual hunting, Vasily Zaitsev outwitted the enemy and emerged victorious.

This duel glorified our sniper worldwide. This plot is reflected in modern cinema: in the Russian film of 1992 "Angels of Death" and in the western "Enemy at the Gates" (2001).

Group hunting

Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate victory in a principled duel. Division commander Nikolai Batyuk congratulated Vasily and assigned his group of snipers a new important task. It was necessary to thwart the impending German offensive on one of the sectors of the Stalingrad front. “How many fighters do you have at your disposal?” the commander asked. - "13". “Well, I hope you manage.”

In carrying out the task, the Zaitsev group applied a new tactic of warfare at that time - group hunting. Thirteen sniper rifles took aim at the most attractive points in the enemy's position. The calculation is this: the Nazi officers will come out for the last inspection of the offensive line - fire!
The calculation was fully justified. The offensive was thwarted. True, an experienced fighter Vasily Zaitsev, in the heat of battle, went on an open attack on the German infantry, not expecting that the German artillery would fire a volley at his own and others ...

Return to the front

When Vasily came to his senses, darkness enveloped him. As a result of a severe injury, his eyes were seriously injured. In his memoirs, he admits that when his hearing became aggravated, he thought about picking up a rifle ... Fortunately, after several operations, his vision returned, and on February 10, 1943, the sniper Zaitsev saw the light again.

For the military skill and valor shown, the commander of the sniper group was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. However, as at the beginning of the military journey, Vasily did not even think of staying away from the main events and soon returned to the front. He met the victory in the Great Patriotic War with the rank of captain.

Junior Lieutenant Vasily Zaitsev learned about the awarding of the Gold Star of the Hero of the USSR while lying in a hospital bed. In January 1943, in the battles for Stalingrad, a sniper received a severe shrapnel wound and was temporarily blind. The news of the award was announced to Zaitsev by his friend, who heard the announcer's announcement on the radio.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to the famous sniper on February 22, 1943. Zaitsev received the Gold Star and the Order of Lenin after being discharged from the hospital. The awards were presented to him in the Kremlin by Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin.

The handwritten award sheet stated that in the period from October 10 to December 17, 1942, in the battles for Stalingrad, a fighter of the 284th Infantry Division of the 62nd Army, Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev, destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers.

• Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Zaitsev

In addition, directly at the forefront of defense, the junior lieutenant taught sniper skills to his comrades. In two months, he trained 28 snipers. In total, the soldiers of the 1047th regiment, where the future Hero of the Soviet Union served, destroyed 1106 Germans. As of mid-December 1942, Pavel Dvoyashkin was second in scoring after Zaitsev, having killed 78 enemies.

It is worth noting that Zaitsev is not the most productive Soviet sniper. During his career, he destroyed 242 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht, including 11 snipers. After the German shrapnel exploded, Zaitsev lost his sight. Doctors spent a lot of effort to restore it, but, unfortunately, Zaitsev could no longer shoot with the same accuracy. The famous sniper began to teach his craft to new generations of fighters. And the absolute record holder among the Soviet military during the Great Patriotic War is the foreman of the 39th Infantry Regiment Mikhail Surkov, who killed 702 fascists.

“It seems to me that Zaitsev owes his incredible fame primarily to his pedagogical talent. Few of the outstanding snipers were able to train their comrades and theorize their practical skills and knowledge, ”said Tatyana Prikazchikova, deputy head of the information and publishing department of the Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Reserve, in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, world fame came to Zaitsev with the release of the Hollywood film "Enemy at the Gates" in 2000, where the role of the Soviet sniper was played by Jude Law. At the same time, as Prikazchikova noted, the American picture of the Battle of Stalingrad does not claim to be historically accurate.

Taiga hardening

Vasily Zaitsev was born on March 23, 1915 in the Ural village of Eleninka (Orenburg province) in the family of a taiga hunter. From early childhood, the future Hero of the Soviet Union was taught to shoot accurately. Later, he recalled the words of his grandfather Andrei Alekseevich: “You must shoot accurately, every animal in the eye. You are no longer a child."

“I was the oldest and grew very tight. The family thought that I would remain a bun, a yard with a hat. However, my grandfather was not embarrassed by my small stature, and he invested in me all his hunting experience to the fullest extent, with undisguised love and predilection. He experienced my failures almost with tears. And, seeing this, I paid him with diligence - I did everything as he ordered, ”says Zaitsev in his book“ There was no land for us beyond the Volga. Notes of a sniper "(1981).

As a child, Vasily first learned to shoot wild animals with a bow. When he mastered this skill, his grandfather rewarded the teenager with a gun. In one of the last interviews, the sniper's widow, Zinaida Sergeevna, said that it was the harsh taiga hardening that helped her husband survive in the hardest battles on the ruins of Stalingrad.

Despite his amazing shooting abilities, in 1937 Vasily Zaitsev was drafted into the Pacific Fleet as an ordinary infantry shooter. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, he repeatedly asked the command to send him into the thick of battles with Nazi Germany.

Zaitsev and his fellow sailors were transferred to the Stalingrad Front on September 21, 1942, at the height of the street fighting for the city on the Volga. He was enrolled in the second battalion of the 1047th regiment of the 284th rifle division (62nd army under the command of Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov).

October 1942 is one of the most difficult periods of the battle on the Volga. The 62nd Army, which was defending the northern and central parts of the city, was divided by enemy wedges into several parts isolated from each other and pressed against the Volga. The minimum depth of defense was no more than 300 meters. Zaitsev was a participant in the defense of the eastern slopes of the main height - Mamaev Kurgan, the workshops of the Hardware Plant were located nearby.

• Stalingrad during street fighting
• RIA News

“And then people in civilian clothes appeared from behind the bushes. They walked, barely stepping, tattered, dirty, bandaged with dust-gray bandages. It was the civilians of Stalingrad who were heading to the hospital. The sailors, who had not yet seen the horrors of war, looked at them with pain. Stalingrad was visible from the edge of the forest in which we disguised ourselves. The Volga lay between us and the burning city, ”such was Zaitsev’s first impression of military Stalingrad.

Before becoming a sniper, Vasily Zaitsev attacked German positions several times and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. As a well-aimed infantryman, Vasily was noticed after one day, “almost without aiming”, he killed a German liaison and another enemy soldier.

Foreman Zaitsev destroyed two fascists from a distance of more than 500 meters from the usual three-ruler (a modification of the Mosin rifle of the 1891 model). The commander of the 1047th regiment, Major Metelev, presented the distinguished soldier with a Mosin-Nagant rifle with an optical sight. From that moment, Zaitsev's career as a full-time sniper began.

“I liked hitting the pick. After each shot, it seemed as if I heard the impact of a bullet on the enemy's head. Someone looked in my direction, not knowing that he was living the last second ... ”Zaitsev recalled his feelings from the new profession.

Talented instructor and theorist

Snipers proved to be extremely in demand in dense urban combat, where every ruin and every building turned into firing points and strongholds. First of all, the targets of the snipers were officers - the command staff of the Wehrmacht. This made it possible to disorganize the command and control of enemy troops.

On October 29, 1942, an order was issued by the commander of the Stalingrad Front, General Andrei Eremenko, “On the development of the sniper movement and the use of snipers in the fight against the enemy.” At least two or three such shooters were to serve in each platoon.

• Photo portrait of Vasily Zaitsev

Vasily Zaitsev became a key figure in the development of the sniper movement. The foreman of the 1047th regiment showed himself as a talented instructor and theorist. His students in the regiment were affectionately called "hares".

In 1943, the Military Publishing House published Zaitsev's first article, "Every Bullet in a German!". In it, he called on Soviet snipers to act in groups - “sixes”, when three pairs of shooters and observers cover the same battle zone with fire. This tactic is still used in the Russian army.

“I took six of my students and went to “meet” the replenishment. Settled down, we're waiting. We see - the German company goes to its full height. We started clicking. I killed eleven Germans. And all together we destroyed 40 fascists, ”Zaitsev wrote in the article.

“The development of sniper art was bearing fruit. During the period of urban battles, 985 snipers operated as part of units of the 62nd and 64th armies. They destroyed about 30 thousand soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht. This is about two Nazi divisions, ”Prikazchikova told RT.

The commander of the 62nd Army, Lieutenant General (later Marshal) Vasily Chuikov, in his memoirs, said that the Stalingrad snipers "went out" hunting "in the early morning, carefully disguised themselves and patiently waited for the target to appear."

“They knew that the slightest oversight or haste could lead to inevitable death; our snipers were closely monitored by the enemy. Our snipers spent very little ammunition, but each shot meant death or injury for the fascist caught at gunpoint, ”recalled Chuikov.

On October 16, 1942, Zaitsev received his first military award from Chuikov - the medal "For Courage". In the presence of the commander of the 62nd Army, he uttered the famous phrase: “There is nowhere to retreat, there is no land for us beyond the Volga!”

By sniper habit

The course of the Battle of Stalingrad changed dramatically on November 19, 1942 with the start of Operation Uranus. For several days of the counteroffensive, the Red Army surrounded the 300,000th enemy grouping. In January 1943, all the conditions were in place for its liquidation. The Germans and their allies were presented with an ultimatum, but they rejected it. As a result of the last operation of the Battle of Stalingrad, under the code name "Ring", the enemy was finally defeated and capitulated on February 2.

However, Zaitsev could not fully enjoy the joy of victory, which was the largest defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. In January 1943, the sniper was seriously wounded and went blind for some time.

“Somewhere in the third or fourth week of my stay in the hospital, due to my sniper habit, I could almost accurately determine the distance to a dog that was barking on the outskirts of the village. Distance along a straight line of sight. I even thought: it is possible to conduct aimed fire along the line of sound. It’s funny, of course, but then I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that blindness, perhaps, forever separated me from the sniper, ”Vasily was sad.

On February 10, the bandage was removed from Zaitsev's head. His vision returned, but the doctors insisted on continuing the treatment. On February 11, he was sent to Moscow, to the polyclinic of the People's Commissariat of Defense, and on the same day Chuikov awarded him the rank of junior lieutenant.

In Moscow, Zaitsev was enrolled in the Higher Shooting Command Staff Courses, where he met other famous snipers - Vladimir Pchelintsev (killed 456 enemy soldiers and officers), Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko (309) and Grigory Gorelik (338).

Zaitsev returned to the front in the fall of 1943, taking part in the liberation of Eastern Ukraine, but due to an eye injury, he was more in demand as an instructor. The most outstanding "hare" was Viktor Medvedev, who destroyed 331 enemy soldiers and officers.

According to the stories of the sniper's widow Zinaida Sergeevna, Zaitsev was seriously injured several times. Twice nurses pulled a barely alive sniper from a mass grave. And once, in a hand-to-hand fight, a German bayonet entered Zaitsev in the chest and only miraculously did not hurt his heart.

"Never aspired to fame"

Zaitsev spent the entire war as part of the 62nd Army. He celebrated Victory Day in a hospital in Kiev. After demobilization, the hero of the Soviet Union decided to stay in the capital of the Ukrainian SSR. Vasily Zaitsev graduated from the All-Union Institute of Textile and Light Industry with a degree in technologist. But he did not forget about his military specialty and in civilian life he published two textbooks on sniper art.

The junior lieutenant had a successful career in industry. In Kiev, Zaitsev worked as the director of a machine-building enterprise, and then as the head of the Ukraina garment factory. The sniper was an honorary citizen of Volgograd and periodically came to the hero city. In particular, on July 8, 1982, he attended the opening of the Stalingrad Battle panorama museum and saw his image on an artistic canvas.

• Vasily Zaitsev, Mamaev Kurgan, early 1960s
• Photo from the archive of the Museum-Reserve "Battle of Stalingrad"

Zaitsev died in Kiev on December 15, 1991, having lived 76 years of a bright and eventful life. The sniper bequeathed to bury him in Volgograd. However, initially the hero was buried in Kiev, at the Lukyanovsky military cemetery. In 2006, when Zinaida Sergeevna was still alive, Zaitsev was reburied on Mamaev Kurgan, which he defended so fiercely.

In the pantheon of glory in the Kiev Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War (now the Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II), the name and surname of Zaitsev are carved in gold letters.

“Zaitsev never aspired to fame. He was a humble, hardworking and patient man. These qualities helped him in the war and after it. Vasily Grigorievich, of course, was a talented and intelligent person. Therefore, he quite easily found himself in a peaceful life, in work for the benefit of the country's economy. Zaitsev was an excellent soldier, teacher and citizen, who by his example taught to overcome any difficulties,” Tatyana Prikazchikova finished her story about the hero.