Soviet Women Snipers of WWII: The Russian Female Soldiers Who Terrified the Germans

When German forces invaded the Soviet Union during World War II, thousands of Soviet women joined the Soviet army. Around 800,000 women served in the Red Army during the war as snipers, pilots, machine gunners, and a large number were stationed in medical units. These sniper ladies played a keen role on the battlefield.

Tanks, Machine guns, and semi-automatic weapons provided abundant hitting power, but the army also required a unit of special long-range shooters with accurate results. The Soviet Army recruited and trained more than 2000 women as sharpshooters and deployed to some of the most dangerous battlegrounds.

One of them was Lyudmila Pavlichenko, dubbed ‘Lady Death’, who knocked out 309 German soldiers. She also trained many female snipers until the end of the war. Former kindergarten teacher Tanya Baramzina notched 16 kills on the Belorussian Front before parachuting behind enemy lines, where she killed another 20 before being captured and executed. Another snipper lady named, Roza Shanina, was also responsible for 59-confirmed kills.

Take a look at these brave and lethal Soviet ladies.

#1 Sniper Anastasya Stepanov during the battle of Stalingrad, 1942.

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#2 Roza Shanina was one of the 800,000 women who fought in Russia.

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#3 Lyuba Makarova was one of the 800,000 women who served in Russia during WWII.

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#4 Lyudmila Pavlichenko pictured smiling in her uniform.

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#5 Lyudmila Pavlichenko Soviet sniper during World War II. Credited with 309 kills the most successful female sniper in history.

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#6 Roza Shanina, who was responsible for 59 kills in WWII.

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#7 Ziba Ganiyeva was one of the Russian women fighting against Nazi Germany during WWII.

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#8 Lyudmila Pavlichenko is the most successful female sniper in history.

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#9 Sniper Yevgenia Makeeva killed 68 Nazi soldiers during WWII.

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#10 Beautiful blonde Roza Shanina, who was responsible for 59-confirmed kills.

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#11 Women of the Central Women’s School of Sniper Training, 1943.

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#12 Roza Shanina was one of the 800,000 women who served in the Soviet Armed Forces during the war as a sniper.

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#13 Sniper volunteer Nadezhda Kolesnikova is pictured smiling alongside her weapon.

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#14 Roza Shanina had a high success rate during her time working in WWII fighting against Nazi Germany.

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#15 Sniper Lyuba Makarova on the Kalinin front, 1943.

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#16 Sniper Liza Mironova in combat, 1943.

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#17 Red Army snipers assemble before heading to the front, 1943.

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#18 A sniper at Stalingrad, 1942.

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#19 Snipers C. Bykova and R. Skrypnikova return from a combat assignment. Nov. 24, 1943

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#20 Nina Lobovskaya, commander of a company of female snipers who fought in the battle for Berlin. Dec. 31, 1944

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#21 Snipers inspect an East Prussian town recently captured by the Soviets. February 1945

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#22 ‘Lady Death’ is pictured wearing full uniform beneath a framed picture of Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin.

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#23 Pavlichenko during the battle for Sevastopol. June 6, 1942

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#24 Pavlichenko during her visit to Washington, D.C. 1942.

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#25 Pavlichenko in Washington, D.C. with other Soviet delegates, 1942.

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