Ivan Kulbertinov

Ivan Nikolaevich Kulbertinov (; ; 7 November 1917 — 13 February 1993) was a Soviet sniper of World War II with a tally of 487 kills.

Early life Kulbertinov was born on 7 November, 1917 in Tyanya in the present-day Sakha Republic to an Evenk family of reindeer herders. His father Nikolai Romanovich Kulbertinov died shortly after his birth while his mother Anna Vasilievna was often sick due to chronic illness. Unlike other relatives in Amur and Bodaybo, who were Russified, Kulbertinov's family identified closely with the Yakuts, with at least one ethnic Yakut ancestor.

Kulbertinov did not attend school, but since age ten, he distinguished himself as a particularly successful hunter in the taiga of Olyokminsky District, tutored by his older brother.

One of his students, Andrei Poberezhny, became a regular sniping partner to Kulbertinov. Poberezhny had 85 confirmed enemy kills at the end of the war and received the highest award of Hero of the Soviet Union. Residents of Sakha Republic have repeatedly launched petitions for the Russian government to again consider Kulbertinov for Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 2017, the Kalashnikov Concern produced 100 limited-edition Dragunov Tigr rifles, eache engraved "To the 100th Anniversary of the Great Sniper I.N. Kulbertinov Pumpee".

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