Vasily Zaytsev

Captain Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev (March 23, 1915 – December 15, 1991) was a Soviet sniper during World War II, notable particularly for his activities between November 10 and December 17, 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad. He killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 11 enemy snipers. On January 31, 2006, Vasily Zaytsev was reburied on Mamayev Kurgan with full military honors.

Quotes

• The arrival of the Nazi sniper set us a new task. We had to find him, study habits and methods, and patiently await the moment for one, and only one, well-aimed shot.
  • Quoted in "The Sniper at War: From the American Revolutionary War to the Present Day" - Page 67 - by Michael E. Haskew - History - 2005.

• There was no ground for us beyond [the] Volga.
  • Quoted in "Notes of a Sniper: For us There is no Land Beyond the Volga" - Zaytsev,Vasily - Vladivostok:Moscow/2826 Press Inc.

• The duel went on for three days, but it ended in our victory in a matter of seconds. The German was well prepared for it. He had liquidated two Soviet snipers before that. But, with the help of my comrades-in-arms, also snipers whose positions were next to mine, I managed to slay him. I did not know what kind of sniper had been brought to Stalingrad, but when we pulled him out of his shelter we discovered that he was the chief of the school for snipers based in Berlin. On the whole I liquidated 242 Nazis in Stalingrad. My friends and pupils also eliminated many of them. I had trained 30 snipers who killed 1126 Nazis during the war.
  • Quoted in "The Voice of Russia," Copyright 2002.