The Soviet Union, unlike other countries during World War II, used women in many combat roles during combat. Women snipers were trained at the central women's sniper training school; they were some of the most experienced and best shooters in battles on Eastern Front.
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Girls are snipers
When the Soviet Union entered combat on the Eastern Front during World War II, snipers became integral part The Red Army is in defensive positions. Unlike other countries, the Soviet Union willingly encouraged and actively recruited girls to participate in the war. According to many sources, by 1943 there were over 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army who fought alongside men on the Eastern Front.
Over the course of several years, the Red Army suffered significant losses personnel, so a plan was developed to recruit and train female snipers. The Central Women's Sniper Training School was built in 1942, just a few kilometers from Moscow. The requirement for candidates was to be between 18-26 years of age and to be in good physical shape.
The snipers were trained to work in groups of two and each was issued a sniper version of the Mosin rifle (7.62 mm caliber).
Management Soviet army believed that women would make excellent snipers because they were "more resistant to the stress of combat than men" and "more resistant to the cold." They also believed that the female body was "more flexible"
Claudia Kalugina, one of the deadliest snipers in world history. She was accepted into the ranks of the Red Army and sniper school at the age of 17, showing unsurpassed accuracy. Claudia killed 257 enemies during all her battles.
Born in the Ukraine in 1916, she was among the first volunteers at the recruiting station where she was asked to join the infantry. Killed 309 enemy soldiers, including 36 snipers, Lyudmila is the best sniper girl in Soviet history.
Pavlichenko was in the 25th Infantry Division. Unlike many of her compatriots during the war, Pavlichenko was wounded after a mortar attack and had to leave the front. For the rest of the war, after being wounded, she taught and shared her experience with visiting military personnel from allied countries, including the United States and Canada.
Rosa Egorovna Shanina was born in 1924 and volunteered for military service, learning that her 19-year-old brother was killed in the war. When the sniper training school opened, Shanina received recognition and became a highly skilled sniper. On the front line, she quickly became one of the best marksmen and was awarded many medals of distinction. Shanina died in battle in January 1945 at the age of 19.
Nina Petrova was 48 years old when the war began, she was full of serving her country. Petrova was accepted into a sniper school and became the oldest sniper in the entire Soviet Army. Nina Pavlovna also trained snipers; in total, during the war years she trained more than 500 snipers. She was responsible for 122 enemy kills throughout the war. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident just days before the end of the war, at the age of 53.
In the photo above, two girlfriends are snipers, 3rd Shock Army, May 4, 1945. Senior sergeant A. E. Vinogradova (left; killed 83 enemies) and junior lieutenant N. P. Belobrova (killed 70 enemies).
Although many civilian women spoke of sexual harassment of female snipers in the Red Army during World War II, this is not true - during and after the war, men showed respect for the women around them.
Kira Petrovskaya Wayne was born in Crimea in 1918 and was drafted into the Soviet army in 1941. How her mother and grandmother starved to death while Wayne served as a sniper in the Red Army. When did the Second end? World War Wayne began a theatrical career that took her to the United States, where she became the author of several books.
Soviet snipers from the Third Shock Army, May 4, 1945.
At that time, almost 2,000 female snipers served in the army, only 500 of them survived the war. After World War II, women would slowly move away from combat roles in the Soviet forces.
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Pavlichenko Lyudmila Mikhailovna- sniper of the 54th rifle regiment(25th rifle division(Chapaevskaya), Primorsky Army, North Caucasus Front), lieutenant. Destroyed 309 German soldiers and officers (including 36 enemy snipers). She was awarded the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the USSR and two Orders of Lenin.
Born on July 12, 1916 in Ukraine in the city of Bila Tserkva. Until the age of 14, she studied at school number 3, then the family moved to Kyiv.
After finishing the ninth grade, Lyudmila worked as a grinder at the Arsenal plant and at the same time studied in the tenth grade, completing her secondary education.
At the age of 16, in 1932, she married Alexei Pavlichenko and took his last name. In the same year she gave birth to a son, Rostislav (died in 2007). Soon she divorced her husband.
While working at Arsenal, she began training at the shooting range. “When I heard a neighbor guy boasting about his exploits at the shooting range,” she said, “I decided to prove that girls can also shoot well, and I began to train a lot and hard.” She also practiced gliding and graduated from the OSOAVIAKHIMA school (Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction).
In 1937, Pavlichenko entered the history department of Kyiv University with the goal of becoming a teacher or scientist.
When the Germans and Romanians invaded the territory of the USSR, Lyudmila Pavlichenko lived in Odessa, where she completed her graduate internship. As she later said, “girls were not accepted into the army, and I had to resort to all sorts of tricks in order to also become a soldier.” Lyudmila was persistently advised to become a nurse, but she did not agree. To ensure her ability to wield a weapon, the military gave her an impromptu “test” not far from the hill they were defending. soviet soldiers. Lyudmila was handed a gun and pointed to two Romanians who were working with the Germans. “When I shot them both, I was finally accepted.” Pavlichenko did not include these two shots in her list of winning shots - according to her, they were just test shots.
Private Pavlichenko was immediately enrolled in the 25th Infantry Division named after Vasily Chapaev. Lyudmila couldn't wait to get to the front. “I knew my job would be to shoot people,” she said. “In theory, everything was clear to me, but I understood that in practice everything was completely different.” On her first day at the front, she came face to face with the enemy. Paralyzed by fear, Pavlichenko was unable to lift her weapon, a 7.62 mm Mosin rifle with a 4x PE telescope. Next to her was a young soldier whose life was instantly taken by a German bullet. Lyudmila was shocked, the shock prompted her to action. “He was a beautiful happy boy who was killed right in front of my eyes. Now nothing could stop me."
Junior Lieutenant Lyudmila Pavlichenko arrived for sniper training
Near Odessa L. Pavlichenko received baptism of fire, opening a battle account. In one of the battles, she replaced the deceased platoon commander; she was shell-shocked by a shell that exploded nearby, but she did not leave the battlefield and refused to go to the hospital at all.
In October 1941, the Primorsky Army was transferred to Crimea and, after fighting in the north of the peninsula, stood up to defend Sevastopol. Lyudmila fought as part of the famous 25th Infantry Division named after. V.I. Chapaeva, who was part of the Primorsky Army. 
Every day, as soon as dawn broke, sniper L. Pavlichenko left “to hunt.” For hours, or even whole days, in the rain and in the sun, carefully camouflaged, she lay in ambush, waiting for the “target” to appear. More than once she emerged victorious in duels with German snipers.
Often on combat operations she went with Leonid Kutsenko, who came to the division at the same time as her.
One day, the command ordered them to destroy what was discovered by the scouts. command post enemy. Having unnoticed their way into the area indicated by the scouts at night, the snipers, disguised themselves, lay down and began to wait. Finally, suspecting nothing, two officers approached the entrance to the dugout. The snipers' shots sounded almost simultaneously, and the struck officers fell. Immediately, several more people jumped out of the dugout in response to the noise. Two of them were killed. And a few minutes later, the Nazis subjected the place where the snipers were to fierce shelling. But Pavlichenko and Kutsenko retreated, and then, changing position, again opened fire on the emerging targets. 
Having lost many officers and signalmen, the enemies were forced to leave their command post.
The Nazis, in turn, hunted for our snipers, set traps, and sent snipers and machine gunners to search for them.
One day, when Pavlichenko and Kutsenko were in ambush, the Nazis discovered them and immediately opened hurricane mortar fire. Leonid was seriously wounded by fragments of a nearby mine that exploded; his arm was torn off. Lyudmila managed to carry him out and make her way to her own people under fire. But it was not possible to save Leonid - the wounds were too severe. 
Pavlichenko took revenge for her fighting friend. She exterminated enemies herself and, together with other experienced snipers, taught marksmanship to fighters, passing on combat experience to them. During the period defensive battles she raised dozens good snipers, who, following her example, exterminated more than one hundred Nazis.
Now sniper Lyuda Pavlichenko acted in conditions mountain war. This was her first military autumn in the mountains and her first winter on the rocky soil of Sevastopol.
At three o'clock in the morning she usually went out into ambush. Sometimes she was drowning in the fog, sometimes she was looking for saving shelter from the sun breaking through the clouds, lying on the wet ground oozing with moisture. You can only shoot with certainty, and before the shot sometimes the road of patience lay a day or two long. Not a single mistake - or you will find yourself, and there will be no salvation.
One day, on Bezymyannaya, six machine gunners came out to ambush her. They noticed her the day before, when she fought an unequal battle all day and even evening. The Nazis settled over the road along which they were delivering ammunition to the neighboring regiment of the division. For a long time, on her bellies, Pavlichenko climbed the mountain. A bullet cut off an oak branch right at the temple, another pierced the top of his cap. And then Pavlichenko fired two shots - the one who almost hit her in the temple, and the one who almost hit her in the forehead, fell silent. Four living people shot hysterically, and again, crawling away, she hit exactly where the shot came from. Three more remained in place, only one ran away.
Pavlichenko froze. Now we have to wait. One of them could be playing dead, and maybe he's waiting for her to move. Or the one who ran away had already brought other machine gunners with him. The fog thickened. Finally, Pavlichenko decided to crawl towards her enemies. I took the dead man’s machine gun and a light machine gun. Meanwhile another group arrived German soldiers and their disorderly shooting was again heard from the fog. Lyudmila responded either with a machine gun or with a machine gun, so that the enemies would imagine that there were several fighters here. Pavlichenko was able to come out of this fight alive.
Sergeant Lyudmila Pavlichenko was transferred to a neighboring regiment. Hitler's sniper brought too many troubles. He had already killed two snipers of the regiment. As a rule, German snipers hid behind the front line of their own, carefully camouflaged themselves, put on spotted robes with green streaks - the spring of 1942 had already arrived.
This one had its own maneuver: it crawled out of the nest and approached the enemy. Luda lay there for a long time, waiting. The day passed, the enemy sniper showed no signs of life. He noticed the observer, but decided not to hit him, he wanted to track her down and put her down on the spot.
Lyuda quietly whistled and ordered the observer, who was lying about fifty meters from her, to leave.
Stayed the night. After all German sniper He was probably used to sleeping in a dugout and would therefore be exhausted faster than she if he were stuck here overnight. They lay there for a day without moving. In the morning it was foggy again. My head felt heavy, my throat was sore, my clothes were soaked with dampness, and even my hands ached.
Slowly, reluctantly, the fog cleared, it became clearer, and Pavlichenko saw how, hiding behind a model of snags, the sniper moved with barely noticeable jerks. Getting closer and closer to her. She moved towards him. The stiff body became heavy and clumsy. Centimeter by centimeter overcoming the cold rocky floor, holding the rifle in front of her, Luda did not take her eyes off optical sight. The second acquired a new, almost infinite length. Suddenly, Lyuda caught sight of watery eyes, yellow hair, and a heavy jaw. The enemy sniper looked at her, their eyes met. The tense face was distorted by a grimace, he realized - a woman! The moment decided life - she pulled the trigger. For a saving second, Lyuda's shot was ahead. She pressed herself into the ground and managed to see in the sight how an eye full of horror blinked. Hitler's machine gunners were silent. Lyuda waited, then crawled towards the sniper. He lay there, still aiming at her.
She took out the Nazi sniper book and read: “Dunkirk.” There was a number next to it. More and more French names and numbers. More than four hundred French and English died at his hands. He opened his account in Europe in 1940, here, in Sevastopol, he was transferred at the beginning of forty-two, and the number “one hundred” was drawn in ink, and next to it the total was “five hundred.” Lyuda took his rifle and crawled to her front line.
At a gathering of snipers, Pavlichenko spoke about how, in the most difficult situations, she manages to train her comrades in sniper work. She did not hide from her students either the risk or the special danger of her military profession. In April, she was awarded a diploma at a sniper rally. Newspaper Primorsky Army reported: “Comrade Pavlichenko has perfectly studied the habits of the enemy and mastered sniper tactics... Almost all the prisoners captured near Sevastopol speak with a feeling of animal fear about our super-sharp shooters: “We suffer the most losses.” Lately from the bullets of Russian snipers."
Primorye residents can be proud of their snipers!”
In Sevastopol it became more and more difficult, but Pavlichenko, overcoming her illness from wounds and shell shock, continued to fight with the Nazis. And only when all her strength was exhausted, she left for the mainland in a submarine.
Before last hour The Chapaev division stood defending the city, withstanding an eight-month siege..
Lieutenant Pavlichenko by July 1942 from his sniper rifle destroyed 309 Nazis. For courage, military skill, courage shown in the fight against the Nazis, Lyudmila Pavlichenko received the title of Hero on October 25, 1943 Soviet Union.
After Sevastopol, she was suddenly summoned to Moscow, to the Main Political Directorate.
She was sent with a delegation to Canada and the United States. During the trip, she was received by the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. Later, Eleanor Roosevelt invited Lyudmila Pavlichenko on a trip around the country.
At the Soviet embassy in Washington.
Lyudmila spoke before the International Student Assembly in Washington, before the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and also at New York. In America she was given a Colt, and in Canada a Winchester. (The latter is exhibited in Central Museum Armed Forces).
American singer Woody Guthrie wrote a song about her. In Canada, the Soviet military delegation was greeted by several thousand Canadians gathered at the Toronto Joint Station.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Mrs. Davis (wife American Ambassador in USSR).
Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Joseph Davis (US Ambassador to the USSR).
Many Americans remembered her short but tough speech at a rally in Chicago:
“Gentlemen,” a ringing voice rang out over the crowd of thousands of people gathered. - I am twenty five years old. At the front I have already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you've been hiding behind my back for too long?!..
The crowd froze for a minute, and then exploded into a frenzied roar of approval... 
Upon returning from the USA, Major Pavlichenko served as an instructor at the Vystrel sniper school.
After the war in 1945, Lyudmila Mikhailovna graduated Kyiv University. From 1945 to 1953 there was research fellow General Staff Navy. Later she worked in the Soviet War Veterans Committee.
She was a member of the Association for Friendship with the Peoples of Africa and visited African countries several times.
In 1957, 15 years after a trip to the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, already a former first lady, came to Moscow. Cold War was in full swing and Soviet authorities controlled her every step. After much waiting, Roosevelt finally received permission to meet her old friend Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Their date took place at Lyudmila’s house, in a two-room apartment in the city center. At first, the old acquaintances talked, observing all the formalities dictated by their position, but suddenly Pavlichenko, under an unknown pretext, pulled the guest into the bedroom and slammed the door. In private, Lyudmila gave vent to her feelings: half crying or half laughing, she hugged her guest, thereby showing how glad she was to see her. Only then were they able to whisper, away from prying eyes and ears, to remember the incredible trip across the USA that made them friends.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko died in Moscow on October 27, 1974. 
From time immemorial it has been said that war is the destiny of men. But in June 1941, when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union with the intention of conquering and enslaving all people, the entire people stood up to defend the Motherland. They fought against fascism with weapons at the fronts, at machines in factories and factories, on collective farm fields soviet people- men and women, old people and children. And we won!
Many women's names have been awarded military awards for services to the Motherland. These are pilots, scouts, nurses and snipers.
So, we present to you the work of artist Olga Shirnina, who adds color to these old photographs.
Nipper of the 25th Chapaevskaya Rifle Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Hero of the Soviet Union (1943). The most successful female sniper in world history - 309 killed enemy soldiers and officers. She received the nickname "Lady Death".
“We mowed down the Nazis like ripe grain,” Pavlichenko once said, talking about the fight against the Nazis.
Rosa Egorovna Shanina - destroyed a total of 59 fascists at the age of 16. Newspapers from the countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition called it “the invisible horror of East Prussia.” She was known for her ability to accurately fire at moving targets with a doublet - two shots in succession.
In her letter dated January 17, Rosa reported that she might soon die, since their battalion had lost 72 out of 78 soldiers and she would not be able to escape from the heavy artillery fire of the Germans. On January 27, 1945, the commander of an artillery unit was wounded in one of the battles. While covering him, senior sergeant Roza Shanina was seriously wounded by a shell fragment in the chest, and on January 28 she died from her wounds.
More than 2,000 thousand female snipers were recruited into the Soviet army after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941.
Ziba Pasha kyzy Ganieva - participant in the Great Patriotic War, radio operator, sniper, reconnaissance officer. She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Red Star, the medal “For the Defense of Moscow” and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
Highly skilled snipers were worth their weight in gold during World War II. Fighting on the Eastern Front, the Soviets positioned their snipers as skilled marksmen, noticeably dominant in many ways. The Soviet Union was the only one that trained snipers for ten years, preparing for war. Their superiority is confirmed by their “death lists.” Experienced snipers killed many people and, undoubtedly, were of great value. For example, Vasily Zaitsev killed 225 enemy soldiers during Battle of Stalingrad.
Maxim Alexandrovich Passar(1923-1943) - Soviet, during the Great Patriotic War destroyed 237 enemy soldiers and officers.
In February 1942, he volunteered to go to the front. In May 1942, he underwent sniper training in units of the North-Western Front. Killed 21 Wehrmacht soldiers. Joined the CPSU(b).
From July 1942 he served in the 117th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Infantry Division, which fought as part of the 21st Army Stalingrad Front and the 65th Army of the Don Front.
Was one of the most productive snipers The Battle of Stalingrad, during which he destroyed more than two hundred enemy soldiers and officers. For the liquidation of M. A. Passar German command a reward of 100 thousand Reichsmarks was assigned.
He made a great contribution to the development of the sniper movement in the Red Army, took an active part in practical training shooters. The snipers of the 117th Infantry Regiment trained by him destroyed 775 Germans. His speeches on sniper tactics were repeatedly published in the large-circulation newspaper of the 23rd Infantry Division.
On December 8, 1942, M. A. Passar received a shell shock, but remained in service.
On January 22, 1943, in a battle near the village of Peschanka, Gorodishchensky district, Stalingrad region, he ensured the success of the offensive of the regiment's units, which was stopped by enemy flank machine-gun fire from camouflaged fortified positions. Secretly approaching to a distance of about 100 meters, Senior Sergeant Passar destroyed the crews of two heavy machine guns, which decided the outcome of the attack, during which the sniper died.
M. A. Passar is buried in mass grave on the Square of Fallen Fighters in the workers' village of Gorodishche, Volgograd Region.
Mikhail Ilyich Surkov(1921-1953) - participant in the Great Patriotic War, sniper of the 1st battalion of the 39th rifle regiment of the 4th rifle division of the 12th army, sergeant major.
Before the war he lived in the village of Bolshaya Salyr, now Achinsk region Krasnoyarsk Territory. He was a taiga hunter.
In the Red Army since 1941 - drafted by Achinsky (in award list- Atchevsky) RVC. Candidate for the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1942. At the end of the war he was transferred to the rear to train snipers.
After the war, Mikhail Ilyich returned to native village. Died in 1953.
The best Soviet sniper of the Great Patriotic War, the number of destroyed opponents according to Soviet sources is 702. Row Western historians questions this figure, believing that it is fabricated Soviet propaganda in order to neutralize the result of the Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä, which he achieved during Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940. However, Simo Häyhä became known in the USSR only after 1990.
Natalya Venediiktovna Kovshova(November 26, 1920 - August 14, 1942) - Hero of the Soviet Union, sniper during the Great Patriotic War.
Natalya Venediktovna Kovshova was born on November 26, 1920 in Ufa. Subsequently, the family moved to Moscow. In 1940, she graduated from Moscow school No. 281 in Ulansky Lane (now No. 1284) and went to work at the trust organization aviation industry"Orgaviaprom", created in the late autumn of the same year. She worked as an inspector in the HR department. In 1941, she was preparing to enter the Moscow University aviation institute. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, she volunteered for the Red Army. Completed sniper courses. At the front since October 1941.
In the battle of Moscow she fought in the ranks of the 3rd Moscow Communist Rifle Division. (The division was formed during the critical days for Moscow in the fall of 1941 from volunteer battalions, which included students, professors, elderly workers, schoolchildren). Since January 1942, a sniper in the 528th Infantry Regiment (130th Infantry Division, 1st shock army, Northwestern Front). On the personal account of sniper Kovshova there are 167 exterminated fascist soldiers and officers. (According to the testimony of her fellow soldier Georgy Balovnev, at least 200; the award sheet specifically mentions that among Kovshova’s hit targets were “cuckoos” - enemy snipers and enemy machine gun crews). During her service, she trained soldiers in marksmanship.
On August 14, 1942, near the village of Sutoki, Parfinsky district, Novgorod region, together with her friend Maria Polivanova, she entered into battle with the Nazis. In an unequal battle, both were wounded, but did not stop fighting. Having shot through the entire supply of ammunition, they blew themselves up with grenades along with the enemy soldiers who surrounded them.
She was buried in the village of Korovitchino, Starorussky district, Novgorod region. At the Novodevichy cemetery there is a cenotaph in the grave of her father.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded posthumously on February 14, 1943 (together with M. S. Polivanova) for dedication and heroism shown in battle.
Zhambyl Yesheevich Tulaev(May 2 (15), 1905, Tagarkhai ulus now Tunkinsky district, Buryatia - January 17, 1961) - participant in the Great Patriotic War, sniper of the 580th Infantry Regiment of the 188th Infantry Division of the 27th Army of the North-Western Front, sergeant major
Born on May 2 (15), 1905 in the Tagarkhai ulus, now a village in the Tunkinsky district of Buryatia, in peasant family. Buryat. Graduated from 4th grade. Lived in the city of Irkutsk. Worked as manager of a container depot. In the Red Army since 1942. In the active army since March 1942. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1942. Sniper of the 580th Infantry Regiment (188th Infantry Division, 27th Army, Northwestern Front) Foreman Zhambyl Tulaev from May to November 1942 exterminated two hundred and sixty-two Nazis. He trained three dozen snipers for the front.
By Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR dated February 14, 1943 for exemplary performance combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism demonstrated by Sergeant Major Tulaev Zhambyl Yesheevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and medal “ Golden Star"(No. 847).
Since 1946, Lieutenant Zh. E. Tulaev has been in reserve. Returned to his native Buryatia. He worked as chairman of a collective farm and secretary of the local village council. Died on January 17, 1961.
Ivan Mikhailovich Sidorenko September 12, 1919, Chantsovo village, Smolensk province - February 19, 1994, Kizlyar - Soviet sniper who destroyed about 500 enemy soldiers and officers during the Great Patriotic War. Hero of the Soviet Union
Participant of the Great Patriotic War since November 1941. He fought as part of the 4th Shock Army of the Kalinin Front. He was a mortarman. In the winter counter-offensive of 1942, the mortar company of Lieutenant Sidorenko fought from the Ostashkovsky bridgehead to the city of Velizh Smolensk region. Here Ivan Sidorenko became a sniper. In battles with German fascist invaders was seriously wounded three times, but returned to duty each time.
Assistant Chief of Staff of the 1122nd Infantry Regiment (334th Infantry Division, 4th Shock Army, 1st Baltic Front) Captain Ivan Sidorenko distinguished himself as the organizer of the sniper movement. By 1944, he killed about 500 Nazis with a sniper rifle.
Ivan Sidorenko trained more than 250 snipers for the front, most of whom were awarded orders and medals.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 4, 1944, for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism displayed, Captain Ivan Mikhailovich Sidorenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. "(No. 3688).
I. M. Sidorenko finished his combat career in Estonia. At the end of 1944, the command sent him to training courses military academy. But he didn’t have to study: old wounds opened up, and Ivan Sidorenko had to go to the hospital for a long time.
Since 1946, Major I.M. Sidorenko has been in reserve. Lived in the city of Korkino Chelyabinsk region. He worked as a mining foreman at a mine. Then he worked in various cities of the Soviet Union. Since 1974 he lived in the city of Kizlyar (Dagestan), where he died on February 19, 1994.
Fedor Matveevich Okhlopkov(March 2, 1908, Krest-Khaldzhai village, Bayagantaysky ulus, Yakut region, Russian empire- May 28, 1968, p. Krest-Khaldzhay, Tomponsky district, YASSR), RSFSR, USSR - sniper of the 234th Infantry Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Born on March 2, 1908 in the village of Krest-Khaldzhay (now located in the Tomponsky ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)) in the family of a poor peasant. Yakut. Primary education. He worked as a miner hauling gold-bearing rocks at the Orochon mine in the Aldan region, and before the war as a hunter and machine operator in his native village.
In the Red Army since September 1941. From December 12 of the same year at the front. He was a machine gunner, a squad commander of a company of machine gunners of the 1243rd Infantry Regiment of the 375th Division of the 30th Army, and from October 1942 - a sniper of the 234th Infantry Regiment of the 179th Division. By June 23, 1944, Sergeant Okhlopkov killed 429 Nazi soldiers and officers with a sniper rifle. Was wounded 12 times.
On June 24, 1945, he took part in the Victory Parade over Nazi Germany on Red Square in Moscow.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin were awarded only in 1965.
After the war he was demobilized. Returned to his homeland. From 1945 to 1949 - head of the military department of the Tattinsky RK CPSU. On February 10, 1946, he was elected as a deputy of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. From 1949 to 1951 - director of the Tattinsky procurement office for the extraction and procurement of furs. From 1951 to 1954 - manager of the Tattinsky district office of the Yakut meat trust. In 1954-1960 - collective farmer, state farm worker. Since 1960 - retired. Died on May 28, 1968. He was buried in the cemetery of his native village.
It should be noted that there are 200 in the list best snipers World War II - 192 Soviet sniper, the first twenty snipers of the Red Army destroyed about 8,400 enemy soldiers and officers, and the first hundred accounted for about 25,500. Thanks to our grandfathers for the Victory!
According to various estimates, up to 2,000 female snipers fought on the Eastern Front on the side of the USSR. Some of them became legends...
Below are 13 talentedly colored photos of Soviet female snipers
The most famous of all is Lyudmila Pavlichenko. For a year and a half - from the beginning of 1941 to the summer of 1942, during the battles for Odessa and Sevastopol, she shot and killed 309 enemy soldiers and officers (most were Romanians). For this, the Western press nicknamed her “Lady Death.” 
But the nickname appeared later, when, having recovered from a serious injury in 1942, she went “on tour” to the USA, where she became a “Russian sensation.” By the way, after returning from the USA, Pavlichenko no longer went to the front - she became an instructor and worked in the rear. 
These historical photographs beautifully colored by Olga Shirnina, known under the pseudonym Klimbim. In the photo - Rosa Shanina, who became a sniper at the age of 16, killed 59 Nazis. 
Of the 2,000 female snipers, about a quarter survived to the end of the war. A large number of snipers in the Soviet army was determined, among other things, by the requirement for each rifle company have at least two snipers. 
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was certainly a star. It was not by chance that she became a sniper - before the war she was fond of shooting, at the beginning of it she took sniper courses and was sent to the front. 
The second sniper in her company was Lieutenant Leonid Kitsenko. They quickly became a couple, they wanted to get married, but they didn’t have time - in March 1942, the Nazis figured out their position and “covered” it with mortar fire. Lyudmila herself carried the groom's body to her own. 
But in Shirina’s collection there is not only “Lady Death”. Here, for example, is the Uzbek Ziba Ganieva. She went to the front at the age of 18. She went beyond the front line to total 16 times. 
And Evgenia Makeeva (to the left of Pavlichenko) killed 68 enemy soldiers and officers during her service. 
Not all legendary female snipers escaped death. Roza Shanina, for example, was mortally wounded in East Prussia shortly before the end of the war in 1945. 
But many went through almost the entire war, such as Nadezhda Kolesnikova and Lyudmila Makarova. Well, now, many years later, their photographs were skillfully colored by a person who “breathes unevenly” about the history of the war in general and the role of women in it, in particular.