A French-Canadian sniper who recently arrived in Ukraine fought in the unit that has world’s longest kill fighting ISIS.
Known as, 'Wali', the marksman reportedly crossed the border from Poland into Ukraine after travelling all the way from his home country.
Wali left his wife and infant child behind in Canada to answer Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call for foreign fighters to join the resistance.
However, it turns out that the shooter's previously been dubbed as 'one of the world's best snipers'.
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And there's good reason for it, too.
According to Toronto’s Globe and Mail, in 2017 the gun specialist from the elite Joint Task Force 2 is responsible for killing an ISIS militant from more than two miles away, which shattered the world record.
“The shot in question actually disrupted a Daesh [Islamic State] attack on Iraqi security forces,” a military source, who requested anonymity because the unit’s operations are classified, told the paper.
“Instead of dropping a bomb that could potentially kill civilians in the area, it is a very precise application of force and because it was so far way, the bad guys didn’t have a clue what was happening.”
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The source said that the the 3,450-metre shot took about 10 seconds to reach its target.
The prior record was held by a British sniper, Craig Harrison, who in 2009 shot a Taliban gunner from 2,475 meters, or about a mile and a half, during an operation in Afghanistan.
Wali has now turned his attentions to Ukraine, where he hopes to defend the country from Vladimir Putin's invasion.
While he wouldn't confirm where he crossed the border, Wali told CBC News that he has been overwhelmed by the warm welcome given to him by Ukrainian people.
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"They were so happy to have us," he said. "It's like we were friends right away."
The Canadian soldier, who did a stint as a foreign fighter with the Kurdish forces battling Islamic State extremists in Iraq, said he couldn't sit back and do nothing.
"I want to help them. It's as simple as that," he said.
"I have to help because there are people here being bombarded just because they want to be European and not Russian."
His decision to fight with Ukraine's foreign legion comes at a significant personal cost: he'll miss his son's first birthday this week.
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Wali described it as the 'hardest part' of the decision to join the fight, adding his wife was opposed to the idea.
"You can imagine what she said and how she thinks," Wali said.
But he said watching what was going on in Ukraine was like a firefighter hearing an alarm going off.
Anish Vij