Lyudmila Pavlichenko

While most countries during World War II refused to put women on the front lines the Soviet Union was not afraid to do so. The Soviet Union had recruited 2000 women snipers for World War II but one of the most successful women snipers was Lyudmila Pavlichenko. To this day she is the best female sniper in all of history with 309 confirmed kills. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born on July 12, 1916 in Bila Tserkva. At the age of fourteen Pavlichenko and her family moved to the town of Kiev. There she developed her love for shooting when she joined a shooting club shortly after moving to Kiev. Soon she had become an amateur sharpshooter, while working at the the Kiev arsenal factory. Before long, Pavlichenko was off to college at Kiev University majoring in history. Little did she know that soon she would be a part of history. In June of 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet union. At this time, Pavlichenko was in her fourth year of studying history at Kiev university but when she heard the news she went to her local recruiting office signing up for the infantry. The recruiter she spoke to when she arrived suggested she was better suited for a role as a nurse or in a clerical position. But Pavlichenko knew she was a great shooter and refused. She proceeded to pull out her sharpshooter and show her marksman badge to the recruiter. After seeing this, the recruiter signed her up for combat duty in the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division in the Red Army and she was given the rank private. Thanks to her prodigious skill as a marksman, she was immediately assigned to the second company sniper platoon. Over the next year she recorded 309 kills, 187 of those with in her first 75 on the job. Those 187 kills were in a fierce battle at Odessa just before the Soviets were forced to withdraw. Among the kills she has a recorded 100 officers and 36 German snipers, including one who was also very decorated. He supposedly had over 500 confirmed kills according to a log found on him after he was