Soviet sniper Semyon Nomokonov
Semyon Nomokonov (1900–1973) was a Soviet sniper during World War II, credited with 367 kills. An ethnic Evenk, Nomokonov was among the indigenous peoples of Russia who fought in the war. He received the nickname Taiga Shaman from the enemies. Nomokonov was born in a poor family of hunters and from childhood lived in taiga. Nomokonov took the rifle for the first time at the age of seven. He hunted sable, Manchurian wapiti and elk, and was nicknamed Eye of the Kite. Nomokonov started his military service in August 1941, initially in a subsistence farm of a regiment. Nomokonov became a sniper by chance. In the fall of 1941 he was evacuating one of the wounded, when he noticed a German, aiming at him. Nomokonov killed him with his own rifle. After that Nomokonov was transferred to a sniper platoon. He started to shoot from a Mosin–Nagant rifle without a telescopic sight. Nomokonov fought at the Valdai Heights, Karelian Isthmus, Ukraine, Lithuania, East Prussia and then in Manchuria. He initially marked the number of kills on his smoking pipe. Nomokonov was wounded eight times and suffered a blast injury twice. As a sniper instructor, Nomokonov trained over 150 soldiers. Nomokonov was awarded two Orders of the Red Star, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Lenin and medals. He left nine children and 49 grandchildren.
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