- An elite Ukrainian sniper unit called the Ghosts of Bakhmut is hunting high-value Russian targets.
- Their commander Ghost told Insider that the job is grueling and dangerous, but patriotism fuels them.
- He claims his unit has killed 558 Russians, of which he is personally responsible for 113.

On the outskirts of Bakhmut, a deadly team of snipers move stealthily through the forests and fields to take out Russian targets.

"It's nothing like American films that romanticize the work of snipers and show it as very glamorous," their commander, who goes by the call sign Ghost, told Insider. 

"We work 24 hours a day, we don't differentiate between day or night. There are no weekends," he said. "You're totally exhausted, all the juices are squeezed out of you, and when you come back from a mission, you're a complete mess."

Ghost, wearing his signature face covering with a skull print hiding the bottom half of his face to protect his identity, spoke to Insider from near Bakhmut via video call.

He said his unit has taken out 558 targets in the past nine months, and he's personally responsible for 113. Insider could not independently verify those figures.

The number of enemy combatants Ghost says they have killed equals an entire battalion's worth of soldiers.

Throughout the history of modern warfare, there have been stories of near-mythical snipers who take out scores of enemy targets with laser-sharp precision.

The Ghosts of Bakhmut — who take their name from their commander — have similarly fostered a fearsome reputation.

A BBC correspondent and cameraman visited the unit at their base camp earlier this summer.

The team typically hunts high-value targets. Once the target has been eliminated, they kill any other Russian soldiers they see in the vicinity.

"We are thrown into the most hot spots," he said. "When there is an offensive or a counteroffensive planned, our task is to go in first and clear the area."

They head to their missions in lightly armored Humvees before silently proceeding toward their targets on foot.

The shots are recorded electronically through the sights of their rifles, and the team continues to observe the target for three to five hours after a kill to make sure they are dead. 

Ghost said that all of their missions are memorable and dangerous, but the most difficult are when the target is another sniper. "It's the task of hunting the hunter," he said.

The team strikes targets from distances starting at about 230 feet away, and their last confirmed target was 2.5 kilometers, or 1.5 miles, away, Ghost said.

That distance is roughly three times the length of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and would place it among the furthest sniper kills in history.