These smiling assassins enlisted as snipers when Germany invaded Russia in 1941. "We mowed down Hitlerites like ripe grain," said Lyudmila Pavlichenko aka Lady Death, one of many elite snipers whose photos were colorized by Olga Shirnina aka Klimbim.
Via Klimbim:
In March, 1942 a Central Women's School of Sniper Training was established in Vishniaki, a village 8.7 miles outside Moscow. The school recruited women aged 18-26, physically fit, with at least seven years of education. School Director was Nora P. Chegodayeva, a graduate of the famous Frunze Military Academy who had fought as a communist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. By the end of the war, the school graduated 1,885 snipers and instructors.
"Jr. Lt. Ziba Ganiyeva – World War II female sniper, accounted for 21 kills"
Nadezhda Kolesnikov and Lyuba Makarova:
Lots more on her site.
• WWII – Russia (Flickr / Klimbim) (via)
