Notorious Sniper Who Previously Fought Against IS, Now Goes to War Against Russians

Ukrainian troops were joined on Wednesday by a well-known name in military circles. Wali, a Canadian sniper who became famous when he went to Iraq in 2015 to fight against the terrorist group ISIS. It was President Zelensky’s appeal that won him over. “I had to go.”

Wali is a name like a clock in Canada. The former elite soldier, aged 40, served twice in Afghanistan for the Canadian army between 2009 and 2011 and made world news in 2015 by going all alone to Iraq to fight against the terrorist group ISIS. During this period, he came to be known as one of the most feared and deadly snipers on the planet.

And the computer scientist in his forties knows how to stop: he has been in Poland for the past few days, and now he has crossed the Ukrainian border to fight Vladimir Putin’s army.

He does this with a group of British and Canadian veterans. “We make Molotov cocktails,” he told Canada’s La Presse, which went to visit him in Poland on Tuesday before entering Ukraine. “We also bought amateur drones to monitor the situation from the air.” After that, they plan to join the armed resistance against the Russian invaders.

It was the appeal of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, asking foreign troops for help, that sparked his interest. “There are several informal groups of ex-soldiers who have answered that call since last week.” But one special detail won him over. “I heard they needed a sniper. That’s like a firefighter hearing the alarm go off. Then you must go.”

The sad thing about the story is that he has to leave his wife and son, who will be celebrating his first birthday next week without his daddy. “I know, that’s awful,” he says. “But when I see the images of the destruction in Ukraine, I see my son who is in danger and who is suffering. When I see a destroyed building, I see the owner who sees his pension going up in flames. I’m going for humanitarian reasons. That’s how I am.” What does his wife think? “If I had forbidden him to go, I would have broken him. That would be like locking him up in jail.”