Abukhadzhi Idrisov

Abukhadzhi Idrisovich Idrisov (, ; 17 May 1918 – 22 October 1983) was a Soviet sniper and machine-gunner in the Red Army during the Second World War. He is considered as one of the deadliest snipers in history. 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.

Early life Idrisov was born on 17 May 1918 in Berdikel, Mountain Republic (present-day Komsomolskoye, Chechenya) to a Chechen peasant family. He graduated from primary school and worked as a shepherd at the Sovetskaya Rossiya collective farm.

Military career Idrisov was drafted into the Red Army in October 1939 and assigned to the 125th Rifle Division in the Baltic states. He received training as a machine-gunner and saw combat from the first day of the German-Soviet War during the defense against Operation Barbarossa. With the rest of his regiment he retreated Northeast. In July 1941, his Division took up defensive positions on the Pskov-Velikiye Luki line between Lake Ilmen and Lake Seliger. There, they repulsed frequent German attacks against Leningrad; Idrisov was reported to have killed 22 German soldiers with his machine gun, resulting in him being sent for training to become a sniper.

Postwar life and exile Despite his awards and honors for serving loyally in the Red Army he was deported to Kazakhstan after spending four months in the Gorky hospital recovering from his wounds. While in exile he lived in Southwest Kazakhstan and worked on a farm as a sheep breeder. He returned to Chechnya immediately after being granted the right of return and became a member of the Communist Party in 1962. He lived in Chechnya for the remainder of his life and died in Grozny on 22 October 1983.

Awards and honors Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of the Red Star