Ukrainian Snipers Don't Like Ghillie Suits; Here's Why They Rarely Use Them

Ukrainian snipers said that they don't prefer using ghillie suits. This was shared by three Ukrainian army marksmen when they were interviewed by the Kyiv Post.

Ukrainian Snipers Don't Like Ghillie Suits

(Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images) Volunteers work on creating Ghillie suits for Ukrainian Army snipers at a workshop on May 11, 2022, in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either for the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine.

According to Business Insider's latest report, Ukranian snipers rarely use the ghillie suits; a kind of camouflage clothing used by Western marksmen.

Ghillie suits are quite effective since they can hide those who wear them, enabling snipers to blend into their environment.

For American marksmen, the ghillie suit is a must for sniper training. This is because being a sniper means that you have the key skills to camouflage or conceal yourself.

However, Ukrainian snipers said that ghillie suits are not always needed when blending into the environment.

This was explained by three snipers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU); Makysm "Number Eight" Federchuk, Volodymyr "Bond" Petrenko, and Volodymyr "Atom" Harbovsky.

They said that ghillie suits are rarely used by Ukrainian marksmen. The interviewees explained that these camouflage suits are quite heavy for AFU snipers who usually cross kilometers of terrain.

Aside from being too bulky, they added that although ghillie suits can hide snipers from the eyes of enemies, drones can still spot them, especially when they are on the move.
Since ghillie suits make marksmen big, they can become high-priority targets of drone attacks.

Another issue that the three AFU snipers shared is that ghillie suits' weights are doubled when they are exposed to the wet climate and sticky mud, which can definitely ruin the mobility of Ukrainian marksmen.

Real Issue With Ghillie Suits

(Photo: Adam Berry/Getty Images) A sniper patrols atop the Chancellery building as part of a security operation during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 14, 2023, in Berlin, Germany. This is Zelensky's first visit to Germany since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Germany is among Ukraine's firmest supporters and has supplied its military with a wide range of weapons.

The three problems mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. The three Kyiv snipers said that ghillie suits have one issue more serious that the shortcomings they shared.

This is the ability of thermal optics to easily see ghillie suits. Because of this, Petrenko said that they prefer using the Crye Precision camouflage pads, which are manufactured by the U.S.

He explained that, unlike ghillie suits, this U.S.-made camouflage gear is anti-thermal and light to carry.

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