The Second World War led to the mobilization of almost the entire population of the countries involved. Women contributed extensively to the war effort by manning the factories, communications, hospitals, support services as also in various support arms of the armed forces. Perhaps what stands out remarkable has been the contribution of Russian women to the Russian war effort, a contribution unparalleled by other countries that took part in the war. They were the only country to deploy women in large numbers in actual combat operations. Amongst the various tales of valor, the most famous has been the exploits of female Russian snipers, whose acts have been publicized heavily by the Russians and whose exploits, have attained mythical heights in present-day literature. This essay examines the factual position on the exploits of female Russian snipers during the Second World War as well as their existence in the present-day Russian Federation.
Overview
The word “Sniper” has its origins in hunting a small, fast bird called ‘snipe’ in 18th century British India by the army. Since the bird is quick and small, the hunters needed to be expert marksmen. Snipe hunting was an art that required guile and patience in addition to being a good shot. All armies have trained snipers. But it is the Russians who organized snipers systematically as part and parcel of their Army in large proportions. Russians have always considered their women as combatants. Even during the First World War, women took an active part in combat operations and the legacy of those times continued into the later years. During the prewar period, the Russian youth organization Komsomol trained hundreds of women in marksmanship. Many of these women went on to win national championships and sure enough, were utilized for their talents when the war broke out. The sheer size and strength of the Nazi war plan Barbarossa caused heavy Russian losses in the initial years. Russia had therefore no choice but to enlist their women into combat operations. The peak strength of women in arms in the Russian Armed Forces during the Second World War reached a million or almost eight percent of the total Russian military force. Wagner et. al (2007), reports that out of these, an estimated 1000 women were enlisted as trained female snipers who totally accounted for over 12000 enemy kills (p. 324).
Training and Organization
Training such a large number of female snipers is by no means an easy task. The Russians had dedicated sniper training institutions that taught sniper tactics at platoon, company, battalion, and brigade levels of employment. Red Army snipers hunted in pairs, one spotting, and one firing. Both were armed with sniper rifles such as the Mosin-Nagant 1891/1930 and also carried a submachine gun as a fallback option. The spotter too formed part of the firefight if the shooter missed the target. In addition to sniper tactics, snipers were also taught basic infantry tactics and command functions to substitute fallen comrades if the situation so demanded. These snipers were highly valued for their skills and were invariably given better rations as it was realized that healthy snipers would produce better results. At the start of the war, there were two types of Russian snipers—snipers who were part of the Reserves of the Supreme High Command (RVGK) and snipers who were part of standard infantry units. “The RVGK snipers were organized into separate brigades—such as the RVGK sniper brigade made up of women (Grau & Cutshaw, 2002, p. 7)”.
Sniper Employment
Snipers were employed in great numbers by the Russians during the Second World War. Their worth was specially recognized in siege situations and urban combat scenarios such as during the Battle of Stalingrad. Critical sectors manned by group armies were assigned entire platoons, companies, and even battalions of RVGK snipers to help fight the enemy. In the initial years, each division had a squad but as their efficacy was realized, these were expanded and thus were expanded the number of division sniper schools during the war. By war’s end, there were 18 snipers per battalion, or two per rifle platoon, which by any account is a fairly large number. To build morale and enhance efficacy, Russian political officers started the ‘Sniper Movement’ in which the highest ‘head hunter’ of fascists was awarded medals and titles. For example, a score of forty kills ensured a “Bravery” medal and the title “noble sniper.” This resulted in surreal competition between division commanders, where each tried to beat the other’s ‘score’. Amongst these glorified shooters, many were women who earned their Bravery medal and title.
Contribution of Female Russian Snipers
So reputed were the female Russian snipers that Russian commanders could count on them to continue fighting till the last bullet, take over as commanders, lead the men and die fighting like a man. Broekmeyer and Buck (2004) state that one communiqué from the East Prussia and Pomerania front where the Russians had suffered heavy losses, with a company left with only 17 men read ” No matter, you still have four female snipers” (p. 119). The recorded exploits of some of the female Russian snipers tell an amazing story. Tatyana Nikolayevna Baramzina, a Russian killed 16 and 20 enemy soldiers in two separate engagements, who then took over as the commander as her leader was killed. She continued fighting till captured, was tortured to no avail, and then shot. Jr/Sgt Tatyana Ignatovna Kostyrina accounted for over 120 soldiers who also took over as the battalion commander and died fighting to the last bullet. Pvt Natalya Venedktovna Kovshova formed a team with another female sniper Pvt Marya Polvanova and has been reputed to have jointly killed 300 enemy soldiers. Both died fighting to the last bullet. Corp Alya Moldagulova a Kazakh, scored over 91 kills, also led her men into assaults, and died while leading one such action. (Sakaida & Hook, 2003, p. 56). Perhaps the most celebrated female Russian sniper of the Second World War was Lyudmila Pavlichenko who was “credited with a score of over 300 Germans” (Pegler, 2006, p. 181). Lyudmila pulled out of a history major from Kyiv University to sign up for the infantry in 1941. In June 1942, she was wounded by mortar fire. Declared a hero, promoted to the rank of a Major, Lyudmila was sent to the US and Canada where she was received by President Roosevelt. She never returned to active duty but continued training snipers till the end of the war. In 1943 she received the Gold Star of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Snipers Schools During the Cold War
After the Second World War ended, an ‘iron curtain’ descended over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union flexed its muscles globally. Sniper tactics and sniper battalions continued to form part of Russian infantry tactics throughout the Cold war. Sniping, being a specialized art became shrouded in secrecy and the Soviets ensured that no real data was made available to the other side throughout the period of the Cold war. Female snipers continued to be trained in the Russian sniper schools, however; the numbers were never as large as they were during the Second World War. Most of the sniper work shifted from regular infantry to the Spetnaz, the Soviet special operations group. In fact, there are no reliable sources that can confirm or deny the continuance of training females as Russian snipers during the Cold war except through fictional tales. The disintegration of the Soviet Union had a telling effect on its armed forces. Overnight, Soviet forces were divided into their respective national services and the fate of many specialized arts such as sniping became uncertain.
Female Russian Snipers in Present-Day Russia
The initial years after the breakdown of the Soviet Union was very difficult for the Russian armed forces. Lack of financial support from the government forced many former armed forces personnel to become mercenaries and thus was born the myth of the female Russian sniper as a mercenary. These mercenaries for hire had spread across the globe, willing to kill for a price. Fredholm (2003) reports that “the word has spread …. that the advance guard of IMU guerrilla groups consists of beautiful female snipers armed with sophisticated guns and night vision goggles, equally prominent in seducing as killing enemy soldiers” (p. 11).
In Chechnya, Russian soldiers swear by the truth that the Chechens had used female Russian snipers, “a legendary unit of Latvian (or Estonian, or both) women snipers known as the “White Tights” – a unit which allegedly turned up in every post-Soviet war against Russia and her allies (Fredholm, p. 11). Some writers dismissed this as a figment of imagination as Oliker (2001) states “most colorful stories of the ‘White Stockings’, female snipers from the Baltic states, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Russia itself, who hired themselves out to rebels. Some journalists reported cases of actual shootouts with female snipers (p. 72).” However, some writers such as Edwards (2000) even put down a figure stating that “Snipers were used extensively by the Chechens, including 30 female snipers from the Baltics” (p. 90). The Russian army nonetheless believed the stories and considered the female snipers as traitors which resulted in some acts of unusual barbarity against those suspects caught. One Russian soldier recounts “I remember a Chechen female sniper. She didn’t have any chance of making it to the authorities. We just tore her apart with two armored personnel carriers, having tied her ankles with steel cables. There was a lot of blood, but the boys needed it. (Mohamed, p. 13)”.
The true factual position of present-day female Russian snipers can never be unraveled as such sensitive information is rarely made available in the public domain. The glory of female Russian snipers during the Second World War when they accounted for over 12,000 enemy soldiers and were publicly feted by a grateful Russian leadership is undeniable. They not only acquitted themselves admirably in the art of sniping but also led from the front with most dying on the battlefield. This class of warriors arose because of the need of the hour and possibly declined thereafter especially at the end of the Cold War. Their reincarnation as reviled mercenaries or ‘Amazonian beauties with a license to kill’ has been attributed to fevered imagination and media speculation. That some sections of this truly remarkable class of specialists may exist is a logical corollary that cannot be proved or disproved with certainty.
Works Cited
Broekmeyer, M. J., & Buck, R. (2004). Stalin, the Russians and Their War. Wisconsin: Univ of Wisconsin Press.
Edwards, S. J. (2000). Mars Unmasked. Washington DC: Rand Corporation.
Fredholm, M. (2003). Uzbekistan & the Threat From Islamic Extremism. Surrey: Defence Academy of UK.
Grau, L. W., & Cutshaw, C. Q. (2002). Russians Snipers: In the Mountains and Cities of Chechnya. Infantry , 7-11.
Mohamed, M. A. (n.d.). The Chechnya Story. Web.
Oliker, O. (2001). Russia’s Chechen Wars 1994-2000: Lessons from Urban Combat. Washington DC: Rand Corporation.
Pegler, M. (2006). Out of Nowhere. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Sakaida, H., & Hook, C. (2003). Heroines on the Soviet Union 1941-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Wagner, M. W., Kennedy, D. M., Osborne, L. B., & Reyburn, S. (2007). The Library of Congress World War II Companion. NY: Simon & Schuster.