Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev (Russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич За́йцев) (March 23, 1915 in Yelino - December 15, 1991 in Kiev), was a Soviet sniper during World War II (in Junior Lieutenant military rank). During the war, before the injury, he killed 257 enemy soldiers, 225 of them in the Battle of Stalingrad (including 11 snipers). It is estimated that the 28 snipers he had trained killed more than 3000 enemy soldiers. Zaitsev served until January 1943, when he suffered an injury to his eyes. Professor Filatov rescued his sight. After that he returned to the front and finished the war on the Dniestr river in the military rank of Captain. After the war, Zaitsev managed a factory in Kiev. Zaitsev's actions during the Battle of Stalingrad are depicted in a fictionalized film, Enemy at the Gates.

Zaitsev grew up in the Ural Mountains and learned marksmanship by shooting deer. Zaitsev means "of hare" in Russian. The snipers he trained were nicknamed zaichata, meaning "leverets" (baby hares).

Awards and honors

• Title of Hero of the Soviet Union (February 22, 1943).
• Title of "Honorary Citizen of the Hero City Volgograd" (May 7, 1980).
• Order of Lenin
• 2 Orders of The Red Banner
• The Order of the Great Patriotic War. 1st Class
• Various medals

External links

• Biography (in Russian) (http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=481), on the website dedicated to the Heroes of the Soviet Union/Russia.
• Василий Зайцев "За Волгой земли для нас не было.Записки снайпера" (http://www.patriotica.ru/history/zay_stal.html) — his book in Russian (zip archive).