WWII history

1942-1945: Soviet women snipers
The female terrors of the Eastern Front

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, hundreds of thousands of Soviet women sprang to join the war effort, enlisting as nurses, clerks, cooks — and snipers.

Over 2000 women were trained as sharpshooters and deployed to some of the most dangerous battlegrounds, far from their companies and required to lie still for hours to avoid detection and await the perfect shot.

Stories of their lethal nature and sacrifice abound — 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.