Who is Wali? 'World's deadliest sniper' who fought against ISIS turns his sights on Russian troops
One of the world's most deadly snipers is set to join Ukraine's fight against Russia. The marksman is known only by his nickname 'Wali'. He has now answered President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call for foreign volunteers to fight against Russia.
“I want to help them. It’s as simple as that,” Wali said in a recent interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “I have to help because there are people here being bombarded just because they want to be European and not Russian.”
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Who is Wali?
Wali, 40, hails from the Royal Canadian 22nd Regiment. He was previously involved in combat in the Kandahar theater during the Afghanistan War between 2009 and 2011. In 2015, Wali traveled to Iraq to help fight the Islamic State's forces.
Wali has left behind his wife and son, 1, to join the fight for Ukraine. He was contacted by a friend who has been assisting in arranging 'neutral humanitarian aid convoys' into the occupied Donbas region in the southeast of Ukraine. Wali said when he answered the call to join the Ukrainian volunteer forces, he felt "like a firefighter who hears the alarm ringing".
Over 20,000 people from as many as 52 countries have already volunteered to fight for Ukraine. Wali told CBC News, "I want to help them. It's as simple as that. When I see a destroyed building, it is the person who owns it, who sees his pension fund go up in smoke, that I see. I have to help because there are people here being bombarded just because they want to be European and not Russian. I'm going there for humanitarian reasons."
Meanwhile, Russia recently bombed a maternity and children's hospital in the city of Mariupol as part of an airstrike. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack a war crime and said that a number of people are trapped under the wreckage. A regional official told Ukrainian media that at least 17 people, including staff and patients, were injured. However, no deaths have been confirmed.
"We don't understand how it's possible in modern life to bomb a children's hospital. People cannot believe that it's true," Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov told BBC. According to the Mariupol city council, the attack has caused "colossal damage".
Zelenskyy posted footage of the wreckage caused by the strike. "Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity," he captioned the video.