The Soviet Sniper SENİOR SERGEANT ROZA GEORGİYEVNA SHANİNA
Roza Shanina was a was a 19 year old Soviet sniper during
the Second World War with 59 confirmed kills, including 12 soldiers during the
Battle of Vilnius. Described by allied newspapers as the “Unseen Terror of East
Prussia” she was the first female sniper to receive the Order of Glory and was
the first service-woman of the 3rd Belorussian Front to receive it.
Amid the German offensive of Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet
troops were facing a considerable challenge. Tasked with the job of stopping
the German advance, the Soviet Union began deploying female snipers with the
assumption that they had flexible limbs, were patient and cunning.
Her diary and memoires were published by an army reporter
alongside letters written from the front which detailed her hopes for a
peaceful life after the war.
Ultimately, Shanina's life ended on the frontline in the
battlefield and in sombre spirits. In her final diary entry, she reflected that
she "cannot find a solace" now and "was of no use to
anyone". She is said to have 59 confirmed kills while other researchers
claim this figure to be higher, her reputation as a fearsome female fighter is
not an issue up for debate.
Between 1941 – 1945 a total of 2,484 Soviet female snipers
were deployed for the war and their combined tally of kills is conservatively
estimated to be at least 11,280.
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