Yury Trutnev, Russia’s deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, doesn’t want to brag. “It would be wrong and dishonest,” he told Russian milblogger Semyon Pegov on November 6. Instead, Trutnev very modestly — reluctantly, even — revealed that he once confronted a Ukrainian armored vehicle while hiding in a tower, armed with only a sniper rifle. Clearly understanding Trutnev’s “humility,” Pegov titled the interview: “YURY TRUTNEV — THE PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ARMED WITH A SNIPER RIFLE.”

The subject of Trutnev’s battlefield feats came up when Pegov asked the deputy prime minister why there’s a ruin near the city of Vuhledar that’s known among Russian soldiers as “Trutnev’s house.” The presidential envoy explained that he’d “worked from that house with a sniper rifle” while it was being shelled by Ukrainian troops.

Trutnev said he was touring the Donetsk region when his group came under enemy fire. “With an armored vehicle, you’ll have to handle it yourselves,” a Russian military officer reportedly told his escort. “We were surprised, of course, but we managed. On the next trip, we just brought along a drone and took care of it.”

It’s unclear when Trutnev’s sniper moment occurred. His trips to the Donetsk region since February 2022 have repeatedly made headlines in the Russian media. In February 2023, he reportedly delivered Lobaev sniper rifles to soldiers from the 155th Marine Brigade during a visit to areas around Vuhledar. Pegov has also linked Trutnev’s “sniper rifle work” near Vuhledar to Russia’s “legendary 155th Marine Brigade.” The brigade operated near Vuhledar starting in the summer of 2022, before being withdrawn ahead of Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region in August 2024.