Vasily Zaytsev Character Traits

Vasily Zaytsev

When one thinks about the greatest sniper of all time, only one person fits the description: Vasily Zaytsev. Vasily Zaytsev has fought many battles and killed many people in the defense of his home Stalingrad. He not only is a great soviet sniper he is one of the greatest snipers of all time. Vasily has had some harrowing moments in his life, but he has always come out alive and strong. From being born into a peasant family, to being the most well known sniper of the Soviet Union, Vasily Zaytsev has led an intriguing life. Vasily Zaytsev has taught not only how to be a well rounded sniper, but also to fight for what you believe in. Vasily Zaytsev was born into a peasant family in 1915. Not much food was around at the time,

Vasily was under suppressing fire by machine gunners on the axis side, he gunned down the machine gunner and then two more Axis soldiers from 600m. Another action was when Vasily saw a Nazi officer standing in a window, he shot the officer dead and then two other soldiers at 800m. These actions earned him a sniper rifle or to be specific a “Mosin Nagant with a 4x PE scope It is bolt operated and magazine fed with x5 rounds” ( Vasily Zaytsev Hero of the Soviet Union). This was the beginning of Vasily Zaytsev’s sniping career. Vasily already knew how to use a rifle because of his hunting proficiency from when he was younger which only added to his skill. Which in turn led him to become one of the most well known snipers. Vasily made up a strategy called sixes which consisted of squads of two, a sniper and a scout going to different areas to spot and shoot any incoming enemies. Vasily was also a master at hiding, he would find areas behind flak gun shells to hide behind and would eradicate an enemy squad. “Eventually between November 10th and December 17th he killed 225 people not including kills with his ppsh-41 sidearm” (Vasily Zaytsev Hero of the Soviet Union). His main area he battled in was Stalingrad. Eventually over the years Vasily was not a sniper anymore, but a sniping teacher. “His students credited over 6,000 axis kills” (Vasily Zaytsev - Russiapedia). Vasily then died in December 15th 1991, just 11 days before the Soviet Union was disbanded in December 26th,