Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Lyudmila Pavlichencko born in 1916 in Ukraine was by far the most famous of Russian female snipers nicknamed “Lady Death”. Before the war Pavlichenko was a university student and an amateur sharpshooter. After attending sniper school aged 24, she was deputized with the Red Army’s 25th Chapayev Rifle Division. Pavlichecnko was perhaps the most successful female sniper in war history where she fought in Sevastopol on the Crimean border and in Odessa. She chalked up the highest number of kills being 309 including 29 enemy snipers. Pavlichenko survived the war after being removed from active duty on account of injuries sustained in mortar fire. She was awarded the Gold Star of The Hero of the Soviet Union where the country even portrayed her faced on a postage stamp.