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A sniper is a trained sharpshooter who operates alone, in a pair, or with a sniper team to maintain close visual contact with a target and engage the targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the detection capabilities of enemy personnel.
Some notable military snipers include
Name | Lived | Active | Notes | Confirmed sniper kills | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noah Adamia | 1919–1942 | 1938–1942 | A Soviet Georgian naval infantryman who is credited with over 200 kills and several tanks knocked out. [1] Trained another 80 snipers within a couple of months during the Second World War. [2] | 200+ | Soviet Union |
Hiram Berdan | 1824–1893 | 1861–1864 | The commander of the 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters during the American Civil War. [3] | N/A | United States |
Herman Davis | 1888–1923 | 1918 | American sniper of the First World War, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre with palm, the Croix de Guerre with Gilt Star and the Médaille Militaire awards from the American and French governments. [4] [5] | 60 | United States |
Fedir Dyachenko | 1917–1995 | 1932–1946 | Soviet Ukrainian sniper during World War II, credited with as many as 425 kills and awarded with the Hero of the Soviet Union. | 425 | Soviet Union |
Rob Furlong | 1976– | 1996–2003 | A Canadian Army sniper who held the record for the kill from the greatest distance during Operation Anaconda, War in Afghanistan. [6] | 1+ | Canada |
Lucky Bisht | 1988– | 2003–2019 | An Indian Secret Service Sniper, nickname Lima [7] [8] who has a record of shooting the heads of two gangsters with a single bullet, killing both but till date no agency has been able to prove how he did this. [9] He is also alleged to be a contract killer. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] A book has been written on Bisht's life, R.A.W. Hitman: The Real Story of Agent Lima according to which he is. Hitman of Research and Analysis Wing. [15] [16] | 139 | India |
Gary Gordon | 1960–1993 | 1978–1993 | A Delta Force sniper who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for protecting the injured crew of a downed helicopter during the Battle of Mogadishu. [17] | N/A | United States |
Craig Harrison | 1974- | 1990–2014 | A British Army sniper who achieved the fourth longest confirmed kill shot in history (2,475 m) using the Accuracy International L115A3 Long Range Rifle. [18] | N/A | United Kingdom |
Carlos Hathcock | 1942–1999 | 1959–1979 | A renowned United States Marine Corps sniper who is credited with 93 confirmed kills. [19] [20] | 93 | United States |
Dejan Berić | 1974- | 2014–present | Simply known as Deki (Деки) is a Serbian volunteer in the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic with the rank of Major, who is fighting as a sniper in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. | N/A | Serbia |
Simo Häyhä | 1905–2002 | 1939–1940 | A Finnish sniper during the 1939–40 Winter War known as the "White Death" from his habit of lying in the snow wearing snow camouflage and a white face mask, waiting for a target to appear. Antti Rantamaa, who served as a field chaplain in Häyhä's regiment, credited him with 259 confirmed kills by sniper rifle and equal number of kills by light machine gun and submachine gun during the war. [21] All of Häyhä's kills were made over the course of fewer than 100 days, before he was seriously wounded—an average of just over 5 per day, with the highest daily count numbering 45 kills—at a time of year with few daylight hours. [22] [23] | 542-> | Finland |
Musa Herdem | 1987–2015 | 2006–2015 | A YPG sniper known as 'Musa' with allegedly more than 120 confirmed kills, mainly during the fighting for Kobani during the Syrian Civil War. [24] | Rojava PJAK PKK | |
Matthäus Hetzenauer | 1924–2004 | 1943–1945 | An Austrian sniper on the Eastern Front during World War II who was credited with 345 kills between 1943 and 1945. [25] | 345 | Nazi Germany |
Abukhadzhi Idrisov | 1918–1983 | 1939–1944 | A Soviet Chechen sniper credited with 349+ kills during World War II. He was reported to have killed 100 soldiers in only 10 days of fighting. Awarded multiple of the highest state orders of the Soviet Union. [26] | 349+ | Soviet Union |
Nikolai Ilyin | 1925–1943 | 1941–1943 | Soviet sniper with 494 kills, who fought in the 50th Guards Rifle Division during the Battle of Stalingrad, World War II. [27] | 494 | Soviet Union |
Nicholas Irving | 1986– | 2004–2010 | A sniper nicknamed "The Reaper" with the 3rd Ranger Battalion deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, with 33 confirmed kills. [28] | 33 | United States |
Juba | N/A | 2005–2007 | Juba (Arabic: جوبا) (also called "Joba") is the pseudonym of an alleged sniper involved in the Iraq War's insurgency. He participated in Iraqi Civil War as well as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.[ citation needed ] | 700+ (Allegedly) 63 (confirmed) | Iraq |
Tatang Koswara | 1947–2015 | 1975–1976 | A sniper credited with at least 41 confirmed kills in only a single mission during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in the 1970s. Other story said he killed 49 in a single mission, because he saved one bullet for himself out of 50 bullets he brought [29] | 41+ | Indonesia |
Ivan Kulbertinov | 1917–1993 | 1941–1945 | A Russian Soviet sniper credited with 252, or alternatively 487 kills using a Mosin-Nagant 1891 rifle during the Second World War. [30] [31] | 252 | Soviet Union |
Vasilij Kvachantiradze | 1907–1950 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet Georgian sniper who is credited with 534 kills during World War II, one of the highest Soviet kill counts. [32] Known for almost single-handedly thwarting a German assault on Shumilino in Belarus. [33] | 500+ | Soviet Union |
Chris Kyle | 1974–2013 | 1999–2009 | A US Navy SEAL credited with 160 confirmed kills by the Pentagon, but who allegedly killed 255. [34] | 160 | United States |
Marie Ljalková | 1920–2011 | 1942–1953 | A Czech sniper fighting in the Soviet Army during World War II who was credited with at least 30 confirmed kills. [35] | 30+ | Czechoslovakia |
Charles Marlowe | 1968– | 1987–1990 | A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record for most solo missions completed (27). [36] | 46 | United States |
Chuck Mawhinney | 1949–2024 | 1967–1970 | A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record for most confirmed kills by a US Marine (103), [37] with an additional 216 "probable kills". | 103 - 319 | United States |
Herbert W. McBride | 1873–1933 | 1914–1918 | A US citizen who serves as a captain in the 21st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during World War One. [38] | 100+ | United States |
Philip McDonald | 1886–1916 | 1914–1916 | 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF, 42 confirmed kills during the First World War. Killed in action 3 January 1916. [39] | 42 | Canada |
Neville Methven | N/A | 1916–1918 | A big-game hunter and target shooter who served as an officer with Sir Abe Bailey's South African Sharpshooters on the Western Front during World War One.[ citation needed ] | 100 | South Africa |
Olga Minchakievich | 1898–1920 | 1917–1920 | World War One and Russian Civil War sniper. Regular member of The 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death. | 129 | Russian Republic |
Tatianna Minchakievich | 1900–1920 | 1918–1920 | World War One and Russian Civil War sniper. Regular member of The 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death. One of the highest confirmed number of kills of any female at 93 kills using only the iron sights of a 7.62×54mm Mosin-Nagant Model 1891. | 93 | Russian Republic |
Timothy Murphy | 1751–1818 | 1775–1780 | An American Revolutionary War sniper credited with killing British General Simon Fraser during the Battle of Saratoga. [40] | 1+ | United States |
Semyon Nomokonov | 1900–1973 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet Russian World War II sniper with 367 logged kills. [41] | 367 | Soviet Union |
Henry Norwest | 1884–1918 | 1915–1918 | A sniper in the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion during the First World War. He had 115 confirmed kills and was killed by a German sniper on 18 August 1918. [42] | 115 | Canada |
Fyodor Okhlopkov | 1908–1968 | 1941–1945 | A Russian Soviet sniper credited with 423 confirmed kills during World War II. [43] | 423 | Soviet Union |
Johnson Paudash | 1875–1959 | 1914–1918 | A member of the 21st Battalion (Eastern Ontario), CEF during World War One who made 88 confirmed kills. [44] | 88 | Canada |
Lyudmila Pavlichenko | 1916–1974 | 1941–1953 | Soviet sniper. The most successful female sniper during World War II. She served in the Soviet army and had 309 confirmed kills. Pavlichenko was called "Lady Death" for her ability with a sniper rifle. She served in the Red Army during the siege of Odesa and the siege of Sevastopol. She was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union [43] | 309 | Soviet Union |
Vladimir Pchelintsev | 1919–2001 | 1941–1945 | Credited with 152 kills using a Mosin-Nagant 1891 rifle during the Second World War. [45] | 152 | Soviet Union |
Francis Pegahmagabow | 1891–1952 | 1914–1919 | An Ojibwe sniper in World War I who is credited with 378 kills, and an unknown number of unconfirmed kills. [46] | 378 | Canada |
Friedrich Pein | 1915–1975 | 1943–1945 | An Austrian fighting in the German Army credited with over 200 kills on the Eastern Front between 1943 and 1945 during the Second World War.[ citation needed ] | 200+ | Nazi Germany |
Arron Perry | 1972– | 1999–2005 | A Canadian Army sniper who briefly held the record for the longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill in 2002. [6] | 1+ | Canada |
Stepan Petrenko | 1922–1984 | 1941–1945 | Soviet sniper during the Second World War with 422 confirmed kills, awarded the HSU (Hero of the Soviet Union). [27] | 422 | Soviet Union |
Ranjith Premasiri Madalana (Nero) | 1969–2009 | 2000–2009 | A sniper in the Sri Lanka Army during the country's civil war alias "Nero" who is recorded as having made 217 confirmed kills of Tamil Tigers. [47] | 217 | Sri Lanka |
Graham Ragsdale | 1969– | 1988–2003 | A former Canadian Army sniper who fought in Afghanistan in 2002 [6] and 2005–2014 as a designated defensive marksman with private military companies. | 56 | Canada |
Patrick Riel | 1876–1916 | 1914–1916 | A Métis Canadian attached to the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF during the First World War with 30 confirmed kills. Killed in action by shell fire on 14 January 1916. [48] | 30 | Canada |
Ben Roberts-Smith | 1978– | 1996–2015 | A sniper with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment who was awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in 2006 during Operation Perth in the Chora Valley of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. [49] Subsequently, awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia in 2011. | N/A | Australia |
Ian Robertson | 1927–2014 | 1945–1953 | A sniper with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment after the Second World War, becoming one of the most effective snipers of the Korean War. In a single morning, Robertson killed 30 enemy soldiers. [50] | 30+ | Australia |
Roza Shanina | 1924–1945 | 1943–1945 | A Russian Soviet sniper during the Second World War, credited with 60 kills, including 12 soldiers during the Battle of Vilnius in 1944. [51] | 60 | Soviet Union |
Justin Dygert | 1986- | 2005–2011 | JSOC A Scout Sniper who was awarded for protecting the injured crew of a downed helicopter during a firefight in Somalia. [17] | 41 | United States |
Ivan Sidorenko | 1919–1994 | 1939–1945 | A Soviet sniper credited with over 500 kills during the Second World War.[ citation needed ] | 500+ | Soviet Union |
Billy Sing | 1886–1943 | 1914–1918 | An Australian First World War sniper credited with over 150 confirmed kills. Contemporary evidence puts his tally at close to 300 kills. [52] | 150+ | Australia |
Mikhail Surkov | 1921–1953 | 1941–1945 | Soviet sniper in World War II. Official documents indicate a tally around 236 kills, although newspapers inflated his tally to over 700 kills. [53] [54] | 236 | Soviet Union |
Bruno Sutkus | 1924–2003 | 1944–1945 | A Lithuanian sniper fighting in the German Army during the Second World War. He was credited with 209 kills on the Eastern Front between 1944 and 1945.[ citation needed ] | 209 | Nazi Germany |
Abu Tahsin al-Salhi | 1953–2017 | 1973–2017 | A sniper who fought in the Yom Kippur War, Iran–Iraq War, invasion of Kuwait, Gulf War, as well as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. [55] [56] [57] However, his kills in other wars other than against ISIS are unaccounted for and unknown. | 341+ (against ISIS only) (Alleged) | Iraq |
Adelbert Waldron | 1933–1995 | 1968–1970 | A United States Army sniper who formerly held the record for the most confirmed kills by a US military sniper (109). [58] | 109 | United States |
Alvin York | 1887–1964 | 1917–1918 | An expert sharpshooter with the 82nd Infantry Division who used an M1917 Enfield rifle during the Meuse–Argonne offensive near Chatel-Chéhéry, France, 1918 in World War I. Medal of Honor recipient for leading an assault on machine gun positions.[ citation needed ] | 28[ citation needed ] | United States |
Vasily Zaytsev | 1915–1991 | 1937–1945 | A Soviet sniper who fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. Zaytsev is credited with 242 kills (including 11 snipers). [43] | 242 | Soviet Union |
Zhang Taofang | 1931–2007 | 1953–1985 | A Chinese sniper who fought in the Korean War with 214 confirmed kills over 32 days. [59] | 214 | China |
Abdorrasul Zarrin | 1941–1984 | 1979–1984 | An Iranian sniper in the Iran–Iraq War. He had 700 kills during the war. According to Seyyed Ahmad Mousavi, his friend and Intelligence Commander of the Younis Diver Battalion of Imam Hussein army asked Zarrin how many kills did he had, and he said more than 3,000 kills. The Jamejam newspaper agreed on this number. | 700+ | Iran |
James George Smith Neill | N/A | 1857 | An unknown Indian sniper, who fought for the Oudh state during the Siege of Lucknow in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, nicknamed "Jim the nailer" by defending British soldiers. [60] | N/A | Oudh |
Zhou Xixiang | 1931– | 1950–??? | A Chinese sniper who fought in the Korean War with 203 confirmed kills with 206 bullets. [61] | 203 | China |
N/A | A soldier who is reputedly the deadliest sniper alive as of 2009 with 173 confirmed kills, mostly with the L115A3 on a single tour with British Army in Afghanistan in 2006–2007, including over 90 Taliban members in one day. [62] | 173 | United Kingdom | ||
Blas Alsiyao | N/A | A Philippine Army 1st Scout Ranger Regiment officer who is reputedly the deadliest sniper alive as of 2017 with 46 confirmed kills, mostly with the Knight's Armament Company SR-25 on a single tour Battle of Marawi in 2017, including over 46 Maute Group Member | 46 | Philippines |
Not all snipers are highly trained professional soldiers. The term is sometimes ambiguously used to describe criminals firing from cover at long range with a rifle, as well as police sharpshooters. Some non-military snipers include:
Name | Lived | Notes | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|
Frank Carter | 1881–1927 | A notorious murderer in Omaha, Nebraska, who claimed to have murdered 43 victims. [63] | United States |
Michael Andrew Clark | 1949–1965 | A teenage sniper who killed three and wounded six in Highway 101 shooting spree on 25 April 1965. [64] | United States |
Byron De La Beckwith | 1920–2001 | An ex-US Marine and white supremacist, assassinated NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers after the civil rights activist arrived home in Jackson, Mississippi on 12 June 1963.[ citation needed ] | United States |
William "Billy" Dixon | 1850–1913 | Defended the Adobe Walls settlement against Native American attack with his legendary buffalo rifle, and was one of eight civilians in United States history to receive the Medal of Honor.[ citation needed ] | United States |
Tha'ir Kayid Hamad | 1980- | A Palestinian sniper who was responsible for the Wadi al-Haramiya sniper attack with a WWII-era M1 Garand rifle during the Second Intifada in 2002. Israeli sources claim he killed 10 soldiers and settlers and injured 6 others, while Palestinian sources claim he killed 11 soldiers and injured 9 others. He would be arrested two years later and sentenced to life imprisonment. [65] [66] | Palestine |
Jack Hinson | 1807–1874 | A farmer who engaged Union troops at long range during the American Civil War and recorded 36 officer "kills" on his custom-made .50 caliber Kentucky long rifle with iron sights. [67] | United States |
Lon Horiuchi | 1954– | A Federal Bureau of Investigation sniper who shot Randy Weaver and shot and killed Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge. [68] | United States |
Thomas "Tom" Horn Jr. | 1860–1903 | An American Old West lawman, scout, and hired gunman, known for shooting cattle rustlers and sheepherders at long range with a Sharps rifle. [69] | United States |
John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo | 1960–2009 1985– | Perpetrators of the Beltway sniper attacks, a series of coordinated shootings that took place over three weeks in October 2002 in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Ten people were killed and three other victims were critically injured in several locations throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and along Interstate 95 in Virginia.[ citation needed ] | United States |
Lee Harvey Oswald | 1939–1963 | A former US Marine who assassinated President John F. Kennedy and shot Governor John Connally in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963, and shot at General Edwin Walker on 10 April 1963. [70] | United States |
Stephen Paddock | 1953–2017 | Perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting using multiple high-powered modified rifles from the 32nd floor of a high-rise hotel, killing 60 people and wounding over 800 others on 1 October 2017.[ citation needed ] | United States |
Charles Whitman | 1941–1966 | A college student and former US Marine who fired from a clock tower on the University of Texas Austin campus, killing 14 and wounding 32 on 1 August 1966. [71] | United States |
Snipers of the Soviet Union played an important role mainly on the Eastern Front of World War II, apart from other preceding and subsequent conflicts. In World War II, Soviet snipers used the 7.62×54mmR rifle cartridge with light, heavy, armour-piercing (B-30), armour-piercing-incendiary (B-32), zeroing-and-incendiary (P3), and tracer bullets. Most Soviet World War II snipers carried a combat load of 120 rifle cartridges in the field.
Simo Häyhä, often referred to by his nickname, The White Death, was a Finnish military sniper during World War II in the 1939–1940 Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30 rifle and a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun. Häyhä is believed to have killed over 500 enemy soldiers during the conflict, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war. Consequently, he is often regarded as the deadliest sniper in history.
The KSVK 12.7 or Degtyarev sniper rifle is a 12.7mm anti-materiel rifle developed in Russia for the purpose of counter sniping and penetrating thick walls, as well as light armored vehicles.
Yelizaveta "Liza" Fyodorovna Mironova was a Soviet sniper during the Second World War. She has been alternately credited with either 34, or "more than a hundred" kills.
Roza Georgiyevna Shanina was a Soviet sniper during World War II who was credited with over 50 kills. Shanina volunteered for the military after the death of her brother in 1941 and chose to be a sniper on the front line. Praised for her shooting accuracy, Shanina was capable of precisely hitting enemy personnel and making doublets.
Ziba Pasha qizi Ganiyeva was an Azerbaijani sniper, reconnaissance scout, and radio operator in the Red Army who killed at least 20 enemy soldiers in World War II. After the war she starred in a movie and became a philologist.
Vasily Shalvovich Kvachantiradze was a top Soviet sniper during World War II. He is credited with confirmed kills numbering at least 215 officers and soldiers of the German Wehrmacht during the Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive and 542 confirmed kills total during the war.
Abukhadzhi Idrisovich Idrisov was a Chechen sniper and machine-gunner in the Red Army during the Second World War. Throughout the war he killed a total of 349 enemy combatants for which he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union just shortly before he was deported to the Kazakh SSR solely on the grounds of his Chechen ethnicity. He was only able to return to his native village in Chechnya in 1957 where he worked in agriculture after the Chechen nation was granted the right of return in the Khrushchev era.
Noah Petrovich Adamia was a Georgian Soviet sniper of the Soviet Maritime Forces during World War II and Hero of the Soviet Union.
Fedir Trokhymovych Dyachenko was a Ukrainian soldier in the Red Army who became one of the top snipers in World War II. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 21 February 1944 for killing 425 enemy soldiers and officers.
The Central Women's Sniper Training School was a Soviet military school for training female snipers for battle in the Second World War, more commonly referred to as the Great Patriotic War among Soviet Troops. Throughout the war the school trained 1061 snipers and 407 sniper instructors. The school yielded several highly successful snipers who became decorated veterans, and two graduates were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
Mahmud Mutievich Amayev was a Chechen sniper in the Red Army during the Second World War, credited with killing an estimated 194 to 253 German soldiers.
Vladimir Nikolayevich Pchelintsev was a Soviet sniper during World War II. Awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1942 for killing 152 enemy soldiers, he took part in a Soviet delegation with Lyudmila Pavlichenko to the United States. In one of his memoirs he claimed to have a tally of 456 enemy soldiers killed, although most historians believe the tally is around 152 kills.
Lakshman Singh Bisht, also known as Lucky Bisht, is an Indian Spy, Sniper and National Security Guard Commando. He served as a personal bodyguard to politicians such as Tarun Gogoi, L. K. Advani, Chandrababu Naidu, Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2009, Bisht earned the title of India's Best National Security Guard Commando. In 2011, he faced allegations in connection with the twin murders of Raju Pargai and Amit Arya and was subsequently jailed. He was acquitted of all charges in 2018 due to insufficient evidence. Following this, he left the special forces to pursue a career in the Hindi film industry.
R.A.W. Hitman: The Real Story of Agent Lima is a 2023 Indian non-fiction crime novel written by journalist & author Hussain Zaidi. becomes the best seller book in just 3 weeks, It retraces the real life story of former Research and Analysis Wing agent Lucky Bisht also known by his Pseudonym Agent Lima. It is published by Simon & Schuster on July 4, 2023. R.A.W. Hitman is the second book published by Simon & Schuster in India. The book has a foreword by former Commissioner of Delhi Police, Neeraj Kumar.
Ibragim Suleymanov was a Kazakh sniper in the Red Army during World War II who killed an estimated 289 enemy soldiers. He was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 9 July 1943, but was initially awarded only the Order of Lenin. In 2022 he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Kazakhstan, the highest state honor of Kazakhstan.
Tuleugali Nasyrkhanovich Abdybekov was a Kazakh sniper in the Red Army during World War II who killed 395 enemy soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Kazakhstan in 2022.
Nina Sergeevna Solovey was a female sniper and scout in the Red Army during World War II. She is credited with up to 64 kills of enemy soldiers and after the war she became the chairman of the council of veterans of the Central Women's Sniper Training School. She was a very close friend and mentour of Azerbaijani sniper Ziba Ganiyeva.
Ivan Filippovich Abdulov was one of the top Soviet snipers in World War II. Sources vary widely as to his final score; his official award documents indicate at least 298 kills, but many newspapers from the war give higher estimates.
Mikhail Ignatyevich Belousov was one of the top Soviet snipers in World War II who killed an estimated 350 Nazis.
Founded in 1977, the school's first staff NCOIC was the famed sniper, Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock II, who was credited with 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam.
It is 'Juba' the sniper who causes havoc in Iraq and it was Corporal W.I. Ranjith Premasiri alias 'Nero' of SLA who was responsible for the deaths of more than 217 Tiger cadres, before his demise on 28 April 2009.
During the war, "Frontovaya Illustratsiya" wrote: "Sniper Sergeant Mikhail Surkov shoots at the enemy confidently and accurately. – He does not wound – he hits the spot. After killing over 700 Fascists, he went on to the next hunt"
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