—— Lieutenant Butorin Has an Idea ——17‘Well, that timeframe can be given for a good cause,’ said
Agashin. Then, as if to bring the conversation to an end, added:
‘Well it’s settled: we’ll let you have Nikolaev from reconnaissance
and you can take Dobrik and Semyonov. And take Rakhmatullin
from the 8th Company – I’ve heard he used to be a hunter; he
could hit a squirrel in the eye. And Sergeant Karpov from the
ammunition platoon would likely be a good choice and... well,
who else is there – you can let me know later.’
Three days after this noteworthy conversation a group of
soldiers, myself included, were holding in their hands as yet untried
sniper’s rifles with telescopic sights. By regimental command, we
were listed as cadets of the regiment’s sniper school.
It was hard for me to say goodbye to my mates in reconnaissance,
but becoming a sniper was my longcherished dream. Since child
hood, in fact. And even now I can still recall in minute detail
scenes from the prewar film Sniper. It was about the feats of a
superaccurate Russian marksman in the First World War. In
particular, I vividly remember the scenes from the film dealing
with the art of camouflage. By making a replica of a treestump or
a dead horse and planting it in no man’s land a sniper could then
climb into it and hit the enemy accurately from there.
Before the war, while still in school and then at the Tambov
railway technical school, where I studied for two years, I became
keen on shooting. I entered competitions. We had a strong shooting
team at Tambov Tech; four of us got into the city team. My friends
Anatoly Abonosimov, Mikhail Shtanko, Boris Vavra and I were
already practising for the regional competitions. Our team then
included the current sergeantmajor of the 5th Company, Vlad
Dudin, who worked at the Tambov carriage repair shop and was a
member of the city council. I had been friends with him since then.
At that time we were not just keen on shooting: long before
being called up for urgent service each of us wore on our chests
the full range of defence badges – and, what’s more, of the second,
and highest, stage: PLD (Prepared for Labour and Defence), PSD
(Prepared for Sanitation in Defence), PACD (Prepared for Anti