An elite sniper rumoured to have been killed by Russian troops after dropping into war-torn Ukraine said he was just in "black-out mode".
The Canadian sharpshooter, known only as 'Wali', said he believes Moscow spread reports of his supposed death as part of its propaganda campaign.
However, he said he has had some close calls of late, including surviving a tank shelling while hiding inside a house.
Wali joined the war effort soon after Vladimir Putin ordered the attack on February 24 and had been keeping followers on social up to date with what he was doing.
But he has spent the last week in the Kyiv region, fighting alongside the Ukrainian Armed forces and his Canadian partner - and so has not been able to do as much blogging.
He said they have made some "advancements against the enemy" in terms of ground gained.
But - despite his reputation - while others in his group have shot Russian soldiers, he has not registered any kills.
Speaking on Tuesday, he said he is "well-fed, rested and all good".
He told Global News, he had just come off the frontlines when he heard he had died.
“I was the last person to learn the news that I was dead,” he joked.
Wali described the reports as "trolling" but said he finds such propaganda from Russia bizarre as he can now confirm it's not true and they lose credibility with their people.
He is currently recovering from a cold and expects to be back out on the frontline in a few days.
“This war is like playing chess without knowing what the other pawns are. You know a bit but not enough," he told the news outlet.
Wali described getting into engagement with Russian troops, who were just 50 metres away and aware of their position.
He said: “I was in a house where they shot the room right beside me with shells from a tank, I was about three metres away. We were lucky.
"Now I know how it feels to be engaged by a tank,” he added.
One of his colleagues was shot on one their first patrols but was evacuated and has survived, Wali revealed.
The sniper - who has a family back in Toronto - said he has spoken to his wife in recent days and she understands he has been in black-out mode.
He said the war is not like anything he's ever seen.
“It’s not like everything collapsed, there’s still internet. Most combat zones have no electricity and no water and it’s chaos," he explained.
He said he went into central Kyiv on a patrol and stayed in an "amazing" condo with an espresso machine.
However, he has seen far more distressing scenes, including Russians routinely shooting roaming domestic dogs for giving away positions by barking.
And he also encountered an elderly woman and her cat who had not had any food for days.
Wali said the attacks undertaken by the Russians are far from sophisticated and the whole invasion effort has been "amateur".
He said they don't have the capabilities of NATO forces, with the poor country reflected in its weapons.
In comparison, the West has supplied Ukraine with more modern weapons and equipment, which has gone a long way to helping keep the invading troops at bay.
Wali previously went viral after it was claimed he had taken the world's longest sniper shot in Iraq in 2017.
But he has moved to quash the story, and confirmed he was never a member of JTF2 and was not present when the 3.45km shot which killed an ISIS operative was fired.
