Awesome, stark moment described here. Great character as well, the patient and careful sniper. The two sentences with ‘but’ as the conjunction in a row in the second paragraph read choppy to me, though I know that’s really nit-picky. All the same, the second sentence feels like a good place for a semi-color maybe. I loved the visual of the other soldier yanking the cigarette from his buddy.

I like how you tell this story of a moment in the life of a sniper (who may or may not be Vasily Zaitsev).

Thank you for your comments!
@THX- you are absoultely right. It looks and feels clunky. I’ll see what I can do to change it. I always appreciate your input.
@Cthuluburger- Thank you, that was definitely the idea. He sounded like the stuff of fiction (kind of like a Russian James Bond) and I tried to bring him to life a little. I am glad you knew who he was. It is gratifying.

And now I see your tag about how it’s inspired by Vasily Zaytsev. Maybe some day I’ll learn to read the tags!

Oh yes! Perfect! Or совершенный!
I’ve always been interested in Zaytsev. I mean, the reason I focused this challenge on Stalingrad in the first place was because of the sheer compleity of the battle and the notable heroes of said fight, as well as the amsolute bloodiness of it all. Awesome.