Vasily Zaitsev

About Vasily Zaitsev

Vasily Zaitsev (1915–1991) was a highly decorated Soviet military sniper celebrated for his exceptional marksmanship during the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. His combat prowess, which included officially confirming the deaths of 225 enemy soldiers, cemented his legendary status within Soviet military history and contributed to his ranking at #972 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, reflecting significant global cultural impact in military history circles.

When assessed against contemporary digital interest, Zaitsev's attention level shows a near-perfect alignment with his historical importance. In 2025, his Wikipedia pages garnered an annualized 368K views, resulting in an Attention Gap of approximately 1x. This contrasts sharply with figures like Hulagu Khan (#451 importance), who received only 70K views, demonstrating that Zaitsev's documented impact translates effectively into modern online attention, unlike some more historically influential peers who are significantly underrepresented online.

Despite this overall balance, a recent trend suggests a cooling interest: his 2025 Momentum analysis shows a -27% drop between Q1 and Q3, indicating that while his historical standing is maintained, recent cultural traction has declined.