From Ukrainian Pryvyd to Canadian JTF2: Longest-range sniper shots ever recorded

A sniper’s place in history can come down to a distance. But behind that number is a battlefield engagement, a target barely visible across the landscape, and a shot whose details may remain classified or disputed for years.

The longest reported sniper shots stretch beyond two kilometers, with the most recent claims reaching four. They span wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine, involving both named soldiers and operators whose identities remain undisclosed.

However, not all do these achievements carry the same evidence. Some have military confirmation, while others remain wartime claims. Here are seven of the longest reported lethal sniper shots in combat history, ranked by distance.

1. Ukrainian Pryvyd sniper (13,123 feet)

The longest shot on this list emerged from Ukraine in August 2025.

According to an account shared by Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov, a sniper from the Pryvyd, or “Ghost,” unit struck Russian troops from 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) near the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad front.

The account identified the weapon as a 14.5 mm Alligator rifle and claimed that one bullet killed two soldiers on August 14. That would place the engagement above previously reported distances.

However, the distance and double-kill account should remain attributed claims, rather than being presented as an independently verified world record.

2. Viacheslav Kovalskyi (12,467 feet)

In November 2023, Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, announced that one of its snipers had hit a Russian soldier from 3,800 meters (12,467 feet).

The shooter was subsequently identified as Viacheslav Kovalskyi, whose reported achievement exceeded the Canadian military’s 2017 mark by 260 meters (853 feet).

The rifle was identified in reporting as the Ukrainian-made Horizon’s Lord. Ukraine released footage associated with the engagement, and Kovalskyi later discussed the shot publicly.

Nevertheless, the appropriate description is a claim by a Ukrainian security service. Footage and subsequent accounts do not establish independent verification of every detail.

3. Canadian JTF2 sniper (11,614 feet)

An unidentified member of Canada’s Joint Task Force 2 achieved one of the best-documented entries on this list during a 2017 operation in Iraq. Canadian Special Operations Command confirmed that the sniper had hit a target from 3,540 meters (11,614 feet).

The achievement became public in June, with reports identifying the rifle as a McMillan TAC-50. Guinness World Records lists the engagement as its longest confirmed sniper-kill entry.

While many operational details remain undisclosed, the military’s confirmation of the hit and distance distinguishes this shot from several longer claims.

4. Australian commandos (9,236 feet)

Two Australian commandos were involved in a reported 2,815-meter (9,236 feet) engagement in Afghanistan in 2012. Journalist Chris Masters described the pair firing Barrett M82A1 rifles simultaneously at a Taliban commander, with one bullet reportedly killing the target.

There is an important complication. The account did not establish which shooter fired the fatal round. Masters also wrote that the Australian Defense Force declined to help confirm the story.

The engagement belongs in a list of reported long-distance shots, but attributing an officially verified individual record to either unnamed commando would overstate what is publicly established.

5. Ukrainian sniper (8,891 feet)

Ukraine’s military released footage in November 2022 that it said showed a special forces sniper killing a Russian soldier from 2,710 meters (8,891 feet). The video circulated widely as another example of an exceptionally long battlefield engagement.

Contemporary reporting, however, noted that no one had independently verified the shot. The shooter’s identity was not disclosed, and the available evidence did not firmly establish the rifle model.

Those gaps matter. The distance can be reported as Ukraine’s claim without adding equipment details that remain uncertain.

6. Craig Harrison (8,120 feet)

British Army sniper Craig Harrison killed two Taliban machine gunners at a reported distance of 2,475 meters (8,120 feet) in Afghanistan’s Helmand province in November 2009. He used an Accuracy International L115A3 rifle during the engagement.

The two men were struck in separate shots. Accounts also describe ranging shots before the successful hits, making this more involved than the frequently repeated image of two immediate, consecutive kills.

7. Rob Furlong (7,972 feet)

Canadian sniper Rob Furlong recorded a 2,430-meter (7,972 feet) kill during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in March 2002, using a McMillan TAC-50.

His achievement surpassed fellow Canadian Arron Perry’s 2,310-meter shot from the same operation. Reporting describes Furlong hitting his target on the third shot, rather than the first.

A record measured beyond distance

These engagements show how far reported battlefield marksmanship has stretched, from Furlong’s 2002 achievement to Ukraine’s four-kilometer claim.

Yet distance tells only part of the story. For a historical record to endure, the evidence behind the number matters just as much as the number itself.

Until newer claims receive clearer verification, these shots remain a mix of established records and reported achievements.