Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko and Leonid Kutsenko. Lyudmila PavlichenkoI am a sniper. In the battles for Sevastopol and Odessa

Pavlichenko Lyudmila Mikhailovna- sniper of the 54th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division (Chapaevskaya), Primorsky Army, North Caucasus Front), lieutenant. Destroyed 309 German soldiers and officers (including 36 enemy snipers). She was awarded the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the USSR and two Orders of Lenin.
Born on July 12, 1916 in Ukraine in the city of Bila Tserkva. Until the age of 14, she studied at school number 3, then the family moved to Kyiv.

After finishing the ninth grade, Lyudmila worked as a grinder at the Arsenal plant and at the same time studied in the tenth grade, completing her secondary education.
At the age of 16, in 1932, she married Alexei Pavlichenko and took his last name. In the same year she gave birth to a son, Rostislav (died in 2007). Soon she divorced her husband.

While working at Arsenal, she began training at the shooting range. “When I heard a neighbor guy boasting about his exploits at the shooting range,” she said, “I decided to prove that girls can also shoot well, and I began to train a lot and hard.” She also practiced gliding and graduated from the OSOAVIAKHIMA school (Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction).
In 1937, Pavlichenko entered the history department of Kyiv University with the goal of becoming a teacher or scientist.

When the Germans and Romanians invaded the territory of the USSR, Lyudmila Pavlichenko lived in Odessa, where she completed her graduate internship. As she later said, “girls were not accepted into the army, and I had to resort to all sorts of tricks in order to also become a soldier.” Lyudmila was persistently advised to become a nurse, but she did not agree. To verify her ability to wield a weapon, the military gave her an impromptu “test” not far from a hill defended by Soviet soldiers. Lyudmila was handed a gun and pointed to two Romanians who were working with the Germans. “When I shot them both, I was finally accepted.” Pavlichenko did not include these two shots in her list of winning shots - according to her, they were just test shots.

Private Pavlichenko was immediately enrolled in the 25th Infantry Division named after Vasily Chapaev. Lyudmila couldn't wait to get to the front. “I knew my job would be to shoot people,” she said. “In theory, everything was clear to me, but I understood that in practice everything was completely different.” On her first day at the front, she came face to face with the enemy. Paralyzed by fear, Pavlichenko was unable to lift her weapon, a 7.62 mm Mosin rifle with a 4x PE telescope. Next to her was a young soldier whose life was instantly taken by a German bullet. Lyudmila was shocked, the shock prompted her to action. “He was a beautiful happy boy who was killed right in front of my eyes. Now nothing could stop me."

Junior Lieutenant Lyudmila Pavlichenko arrived for sniper training

Near Odessa, L. Pavlichenko received a baptism of fire, opening a combat account. In one of the battles, she replaced the deceased platoon commander; she was shell-shocked by a shell that exploded nearby, but she did not leave the battlefield and refused to go to the hospital at all.

In October 1941, the Primorsky Army was transferred to Crimea and, after fighting in the north of the peninsula, stood up to defend Sevastopol. Lyudmila fought as part of the famous 25th Infantry Division named after. V.I. Chapaeva, who was part of the Primorsky Army.


Every day, as soon as dawn broke, sniper L. Pavlichenko left “to hunt.” For hours, or even whole days, in the rain and in the sun, carefully camouflaged, she lay in ambush, waiting for the “target” to appear. More than once she emerged victorious in duels with German snipers.
She often went on combat operations with Leonid Kutsenko, who joined the division at the same time as her.

One day, the command ordered them to destroy an enemy command post discovered by scouts. Having unnoticed their way into the area indicated by the scouts at night, the snipers, disguised themselves, lay down and began to wait. Finally, suspecting nothing, two officers approached the entrance to the dugout. The snipers' shots sounded almost simultaneously, and the struck officers fell. Immediately, several more people jumped out of the dugout in response to the noise. Two of them were killed. And a few minutes later, the Nazis subjected the place where the snipers were to fierce shelling. But Pavlichenko and Kutsenko retreated, and then, changing position, again opened fire on the emerging targets.


Having lost many officers and signalmen, the enemies were forced to leave their command post.
The Nazis, in turn, hunted for our snipers, set traps, and sent snipers and machine gunners to search for them.
One day, when Pavlichenko and Kutsenko were in ambush, the Nazis discovered them and immediately opened hurricane mortar fire. Leonid was seriously wounded by fragments of a nearby mine that exploded; his arm was torn off. Lyudmila managed to carry him out and make her way to her own people under fire. But it was not possible to save Leonid - the wounds were too severe.

Pavlichenko avenged her fighting friend. She exterminated enemies herself and, together with other experienced snipers, taught marksmanship to fighters, passing on combat experience to them. During the period of defensive battles, she trained dozens of good snipers, who, following her example, exterminated more than one hundred Nazis.
Now sniper Lyuda Pavlichenko was operating in a mountain war. This was her first military autumn in the mountains and her first winter on the rocky soil of Sevastopol.
At three o'clock in the morning she usually went out into ambush. Sometimes she was drowning in the fog, sometimes she was looking for saving shelter from the sun breaking through the clouds, lying on the wet ground oozing with moisture. You can only shoot with certainty, and before the shot sometimes the road of patience lay a day or two long. Not a single mistake - or you will find yourself, and there will be no salvation.

One day, on Bezymyannaya, six machine gunners came out to ambush her. They noticed her the day before, when she fought an unequal battle all day and even evening. The Nazis settled over the road along which they were delivering ammunition to the neighboring regiment of the division. For a long time, on her bellies, Pavlichenko climbed the mountain. A bullet cut off an oak branch right at the temple, another pierced the top of his cap. And then Pavlichenko fired two shots - the one who almost hit her in the temple, and the one who almost hit her in the forehead, fell silent. Four living people shot hysterically, and again, crawling away, she hit exactly where the shot came from. Three more remained in place, only one ran away.
Pavlichenko froze. Now we have to wait. One of them could be playing dead, and maybe he's waiting for her to move. Or the one who ran away had already brought other machine gunners with him. The fog thickened. Finally, Pavlichenko decided to crawl towards her enemies. I took the dead man’s machine gun and a light machine gun. Meanwhile, another group of German soldiers approached and their random shooting was again heard from the fog. Lyudmila responded either with a machine gun or with a machine gun, so that the enemies would imagine that there were several fighters here. Pavlichenko was able to come out of this fight alive.

Sergeant Lyudmila Pavlichenko was transferred to a neighboring regiment. Hitler's sniper brought too many troubles. He had already killed two snipers of the regiment. As a rule, German snipers hid behind the front line of their own, carefully camouflaged themselves, put on spotted robes with green streaks - the spring of 1942 had already arrived.

This one had its own maneuver: it crawled out of the nest and approached the enemy. Luda lay there for a long time, waiting. The day passed, the enemy sniper showed no signs of life. He noticed the observer, but decided not to hit him, he wanted to track her down and put her down on the spot.

Lyuda quietly whistled and ordered the observer, who was lying about fifty meters from her, to leave.

Stayed the night. After all, the German sniper was probably used to sleeping in a dugout and therefore would be exhausted faster than she if he was stuck here overnight. They lay there for a day without moving. In the morning it was foggy again. My head felt heavy, my throat was sore, my clothes were soaked with dampness, and even my hands ached.

Slowly, reluctantly, the fog cleared, it became clearer, and Pavlichenko saw how, hiding behind a model of snags, the sniper moved with barely noticeable jerks. Getting closer and closer to her. She moved towards him. The stiff body became heavy and clumsy. Overcoming the cold rocky floor centimeter by centimeter, holding the rifle in front of her, Lyuda did not take her eyes off the optical sight. The second acquired a new, almost infinite length. Suddenly, Lyuda caught sight of watery eyes, yellow hair, and a heavy jaw. The enemy sniper looked at her, their eyes met. The tense face was distorted by a grimace, he realized - a woman! The moment decided life - she pulled the trigger. For a saving second, Lyuda's shot was ahead. She pressed herself into the ground and managed to see in the sight how an eye full of horror blinked. Hitler's machine gunners were silent. Lyuda waited, then crawled towards the sniper. He lay there, still aiming at her.

She took out the Nazi sniper book and read: “Dunkirk.” There was a number next to it. More and more French names and numbers. More than four hundred French and English died at his hands. He opened his account in Europe in 1940, here, in Sevastopol, he was transferred at the beginning of forty-two, and the number “one hundred” was drawn in ink, and next to it the total was “five hundred.” Lyuda took his rifle and crawled to her front line.

At a gathering of snipers, Pavlichenko spoke about how, in the most difficult situations, she manages to train her comrades in sniper work. She did not hide from her students either the risk or the special danger of her military profession. In April, she was awarded a diploma at a sniper rally. The newspaper of the Primorsky Army reported: “Comrade Pavlichenko has perfectly studied the habits of the enemy and mastered sniper tactics... Almost all the prisoners captured near Sevastopol speak with a feeling of animal fear about our super-accurate shooters: “We have suffered the most losses lately from the bullets of Russian snipers.” .
Primorye residents can be proud of their snipers!”

In Sevastopol it became more and more difficult, but Pavlichenko, overcoming her illness from wounds and shell shock, continued to fight with the Nazis. And only when all her strength was exhausted, she left for the mainland in a submarine.

Until the last hour, the Chapaev division stood defending the city, having withstood an eight-month siege..

By July 1942, Lieutenant Pavlichenko had killed 309 Nazis with her sniper rifle. For courage, military skill, and courage shown in the fight against the Nazis, Lyudmila Pavlichenko received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on October 25, 1943.

After Sevastopol, she was suddenly summoned to Moscow, to the Main Political Directorate.
She was sent with a delegation to Canada and the United States. During the trip, she was received by the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. Later, Eleanor Roosevelt invited Lyudmila Pavlichenko on a trip around the country.

At the Soviet embassy in Washington.

Lyudmila has spoken before the International Student Assembly in Washington, before the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and also in New York. In America she was given a Colt, and in Canada a Winchester. (The latter is exhibited at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces).
American singer Woody Guthrie wrote a song about her. In Canada, the Soviet military delegation was greeted by several thousand Canadians gathered at the Toronto Joint Station.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Mrs. Davis (wife of the American Ambassador to the USSR).

Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Joseph Davis (US Ambassador to the USSR).

Many Americans remembered her short but tough speech at a rally in Chicago:
“Gentlemen,” a ringing voice rang out over the crowd of thousands of people gathered. - I am twenty five years old. At the front, I had already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you've been hiding behind my back for too long?!..
The crowd froze for a minute, and then exploded into a frenzied roar of approval...

Upon returning from the USA, Major Pavlichenko served as an instructor at the Vystrel sniper school.

After the war in 1945, Lyudmila Mikhailovna graduated from Kiev University. From 1945 to 1953 she was a research fellow at the General Staff of the Navy. Later she worked in the Soviet War Veterans Committee.
She was a member of the Association for Friendship with the Peoples of Africa and visited African countries several times.

In 1957, 15 years after a trip to the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, already a former first lady, came to Moscow. The Cold War was in full swing, and the Soviet authorities controlled its every move. After much waiting, Roosevelt finally received permission to meet her old friend Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Their date took place at Lyudmila’s house, in a two-room apartment in the city center. At first, the old acquaintances talked, observing all the formalities dictated by their position, but suddenly Pavlichenko, under an unknown pretext, pulled the guest into the bedroom and slammed the door. In private, Lyudmila gave vent to her feelings: half crying or half laughing, she hugged her guest, thereby showing how glad she was to see her. Only then were they able to whisper, away from prying eyes and ears, to remember the incredible trip across the USA that made them friends.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko died in Moscow on October 27, 1974.

From a distance of seven decades, wartime events are perceived and interpreted by many in a rather unique way. In the year of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, one Russian publication, in a selection of photographs of all kinds of maniacs and serial killers, published a group portrait of Soviet female snipers, indicating that during the war years they took the lives of several hundred people in total.

Journalists who grew up in the warmth and bliss of peacetime obviously do not see the difference between murderers and those who took up arms to defend their homeland.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the most successful female sniper of the Second World War, first encountered such misunderstanding during a visit to the United States, where she was nicknamed “Lady Death.”

But American reporters, greedy for sensation, expecting to see a “killing machine” in female form, discovered that in front of them was an ordinary young woman who had suffered terrible trials that failed to break her will...

Student, Komsomol member, beauty...

Hero of the Great Patriotic War, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. 1942 Photo: RIA Novosti / Yuri Ivanov

She was born on July 12, 1916 in the city of Belaya Tserkov in the Kyiv province. Ordinary life was changed by first love, which ended in early marriage and the birth of a son, Rostislav, who was born when Lyuda was only 16 years old.

Although Lyudmila got married, this did not save her from gossip. As a result, the family moved to Kyiv.

As often happens, the early marriage quickly fell apart. Having bore the surname Belova as a girl, after the divorce Lyudmila retained the surname Pavlichenko - it was under this name that, without exaggeration, the whole world recognized her.

The status of a single mother at such a tender age did not frighten Luda - after the ninth grade she began studying at evening school, while simultaneously working as a grinder at the Kiev Arsenal plant.

Relatives and friends helped raise little Rostislav.

In 1937, Lyudmila Pavlichenko entered the history department of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University. Like most students of the anxious pre-war period, Lyuda was preparing, “if there was war tomorrow,” to fight for the Motherland. The girl was involved in shooting sports, showing very good results.

Front instead of diploma

In the summer of 1941, fourth-year student Lyudmila Pavlichenko underwent pre-graduation internship at a scientific library in Odessa. The topic of the future diploma has already been chosen - the reunification of Ukraine with Russia.

When the war began, Lyuda immediately went to the military registration and enlistment office, presented documents about her rifle training, and asked to be sent to the front.

And again the template of the modern perception of life cracks: “How could she, a mother, leave her son and go to war?”

The perception of the surrounding reality among the Soviet people, who stood in the way of Hitler's hordes in June 1941, was different - in order to save their children, they needed to save the Motherland. And in order to save the Motherland, you need to kill the Nazis, and it is impossible to shift this burden onto someone else’s shoulders.

The front rolled east with terrifying speed, and the fighter of the 25th Chapaev Rifle Division, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, very soon had to fight the Nazis and their Romanian allies on the outskirts of Odessa, where she had recently been engaged in scientific work.

Hero of the Soviet Union, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko and English actor Laurence Olivier in the film “Chernomortsy.” 1942

She instilled fear in her enemies

In one of her first battles, she replaced the deceased platoon commander; she was shell-shocked by a shell that exploded nearby, but she did not leave the battlefield and refused to go to the hospital at all.

Pre-war shooting skills came in handy during the war - Lyudmila became a sniper. She had excellent hearing, amazing vision and well-developed intuition - all these qualities are priceless for a sniper.

The Nazis' attack on Odessa was so rapid that they did not have time to sufficiently prepare the city's defense from land. They fought with everything they could - they welded sheets of iron onto tractors, turning them into a kind of tanks, and used bottles with a flammable mixture instead of grenades. The lack of weapons reached the point that detachments of workers, recapturing positions from the Germans and Romanians, went to the enemy with sapper blades, exterminating the invaders in bloody hand-to-hand combat.

In this desperate situation, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko became an inspiring example for those who were losing hope and losing heart. She replenished her account of killed enemies almost daily.

At first she set herself the task of killing 100 fascists. Having completed this plan, I moved on.

From August to October 1941, on the approaches to Odessa, she destroyed 187 enemy soldiers and officers.

The Soviet press wrote about her exploits, and on the other side of the front they were truly afraid of her. There were rumors that she heard rustling sounds at a distance of half a kilometer, was able to sneak up to the very German trenches, shoot a dozen people at a time, and disappear unnoticed.

Fear, of course, has big eyes, but the fact remains: the enemy failed to destroy the elusive Pavlichenko in Odessa.

Hero of the Soviet Union, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko (third from right) among workers at a small arms factory in Liverpool. 1942 Photo: RIA Novosti

A moment of happiness on the edge of eternity

In Sevastopol, something happened that would never have happened to a cold-blooded “killing machine” - Lyudmila fell in love. Ensign Leonid Kutsenko was her partner in the sniper war, in duels with Nazi snipers. In December 1941, Lyuda was wounded, and Leonid pulled her out from under fire.

War is not the best place for love. But times don't choose. Lyuda Pavlichenko was 25 years old, and the thirst for life desperately argued with death triumphant around her. At the height of the fighting, they applied for marriage registration.

Their happiness will be short-lived. During the next sniper foray, the Germans will discover their position and cover it with mortar fire. Leonid's hand was torn off, and now Lyuda pulled him out from under the fire. But the wounds turned out to be too severe - a few days later he died in the hospital in her arms.

This happened in March 1942. By that time, Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s personal account listed 259 killed fascists.

Hero of the Soviet Union, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Cambridge. 1942 Photo: RIA Novosti

Sniper duel

After Leonid’s death, her hands began to tremble, which is unacceptable for a sniper. But no one dared to demand composure from her.

Lyuda pulled herself together, and at a gathering of the best snipers, she announced that she took upon herself to bring the number of killed fascists to 300.

To take revenge on the Nazis for Lenya, for her dead comrades, for her warped youth - that was her goal in those terrible months of the spring of 1942.

The Nazis were really hunting for her. Selected Wehrmacht snipers were thrown against Pavlichenko. In one of these duels, which lasted a whole day, Lyuda saw through the sight the eyes of her opponent, realizing that he saw her too. But the Soviet sniper’s shot sounded earlier.

When Lyuda approached his position, she found a notebook from the defeated enemy, where he recorded his victories. By the time he lost to a Russian woman, the Nazi, who started the war in France, had more than 400 killed soldiers and officers.

According to some reports, 36 Nazi snipers entered into a duel with Pavlichenko at different times. They all lost.

Hero of the Soviet Union, former sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko signs autographs for participants in the Red Pathfinders rally. Photo: RIA Novosti / Khlansky

Evacuation

Shortly before the fall of Sevastopol, in June 1942, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was seriously wounded. She was evacuated by sea. Thanks to this, she avoided the tragic fate of several tens of thousands of defenders of the city, who, deprived of the opportunity to evacuate, died or were captured after the capture of Sevastopol by the Nazis.

The legendary 25th Chapaev Division, in which Lyudmila Pavlichenko fought, died. Its last fighters sank the banners in the Black Sea so that they would not fall to the enemy.

By the time of the evacuation from Sevastopol, Lyudmila Pavlichenko had killed 309 enemy soldiers and officers. She achieved this stunning result in just a year of war.

Moscow decided that she had served her Motherland enough on the front line, and there was no point in throwing a repeatedly wounded, shell-shocked woman who had suffered personal losses into the heat again. Now she had a completely different mission ahead of her.

Hero of the Soviet Union sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. 1967 Photo: RIA Novosti

"Come closer..."

At the invitation of the wife of the American President Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Student Association, a delegation of Soviet front-line students went to the USA. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was also included in the delegation.

For well-fed America, the Second World War, even despite Pearl Harbor, remained a distant event. They knew about the real horrors of war only by hearsay. But the news that a Russian woman who personally killed more than 300 fascists was coming to the United States caused a sensation.

It’s unlikely that American journalists understood exactly what a Russian heroine should look like, but they certainly didn’t expect to see a pretty young woman whose photo could easily grace the covers of fashion magazines.

Apparently, this is why the thoughts of the reporters at the first press conference with Pavlichenko’s participation went somewhere very far from the war.

What color underwear do you prefer? - one of the Americans blurted out.

Lyudmila, smiling sweetly, answered:

In our country you can get a slap in the face for asking a similar question. Come on, come closer...

This answer captivated even the most “toothed sharks” of the American media. Admiring articles about the Russian sniper appeared in almost all American newspapers.

“Don’t you think you’ve been hiding behind my back for too long?”

She was received personally by the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyudmila became friends with his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, and this friendship lasted for many years.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko attended many receptions and participated in rallies in different cities of America. The main theme of her speeches remained the “second front”. The Soviet soldiers fighting the fascists looked with hope at the allies, expecting that they would begin military operations against the Nazis in Europe, but the opening of the “second front” was postponed and postponed.

At a rally in Chicago, Luda Pavlichenko uttered the words thanks to which she will be remembered in the United States for decades to come:

- Gentlemen, I am twenty-five years old. At the front, I had already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you've been hiding behind my back for too long?!..

The crowd froze for a moment, and then burst into a storm of applause. That day, a young Russian girl forced many to change their attitude towards the war that was raging in Europe. Famous American country singer Woody Guthrie dedicated a song to her called “Miss Pavlichenko”:

In the summer heat, cold snowy winter
In any weather you hunt down the enemy
The world will love your sweet face just like I do
After all, more than three hundred Nazi dogs died from your weapons...

After the USA, Lyudmila Pavlichenko visited Canada, Great Britain, and then returned to the USSR, where she served as an instructor at the Vystrel sniper school.

Winner

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 25, 1943, Lieutenant Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko completed her military service with the rank of major. After the war, she completed her studies at Kiev University, then worked for many years as a researcher at the General Staff of the Navy, and worked in the Soviet Committee of War Veterans.

She raised her son, got married again, and lived a full life. She won the right to this life for herself, for her loved ones and for all Soviet people, by standing in the way of the enemy and winning an unconditional victory over him.

But the incredible strain of strength during the war years, wounds and concussions made themselves felt. Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko died on October 27, 1974, at the age of 58. Her final resting place was the columbarium of the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

In the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia, a special stand is dedicated to the feat of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, where her weapons and personal belongings are exhibited.

The feat is not for “Lady Death”, but for an ordinary woman who brought her youth to the altar of Victory - one for all.

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The personality of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko became part of the history of the Soviet Union; she joined the ranks of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Her exploits were and continue to be talked about in every corner of the world. It is safe to say that sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko is a shining example of heroism and dedication to her work.

Lyudmila Pavlyuchenkova is a sniper, about whose personality many different facts can be told. First of all, she made a huge contribution to the victory over the fascist invaders during the Second World War. According to archives, she accounted for 309 killed soldiers, including those with senior officer ranks. The importance of this figure also lies in the fact that 36 of those killed were excellent snipers who themselves were hunting for Pavlyuchenko. It is impossible not to note the fateful meeting of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko and Eleanor Roosevelt, which also became part of many stories.

Lyudmila was born on July 12, 1916, in the city of Belaya Tserkov. The girl's school years passed quite calmly, like all children. She attended secondary school No. 3, which was located right next to her house. At the age of 14, together with his relatives and family, he moved to the capital of Ukraine. Her parents immediately noted her lively character and charisma; she always defended the weak. The most important thing about her character is that almost all of her friends were guys. She was not interested in girl's games, that's why she was drawn to the guys who always supported her.

As for the father, he supported his daughter. Of course, he wanted a son to be born, but looking after his daughter, he always praised her successes. She always had enormous strength and never yielded anything to the boys. After graduating from school, he goes to work at a factory. Here she fell in love with the profession of a grinder, which she did very well. Of course, I still had two more years of high school left to complete, so I had to juggle it. At the age of 16 she already got married, and after some time the young couple had a child. The boy was named Rostislav; it is known that he died in 2007.

The family idyll did not last for a long time; after a few years, they separated. After everything that happened, Lyudmila did not change her last name and remained after her husband Pavlyuchenko, although her maiden name was Belovaya.

It is known that the husband died in the war, the first battles took his life. Thus, the future sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko was left alone; there were no more official marriages in her life.

First training

After work, Lyudmila visited the shooting range, where she learned shooting. She was haunted by an offensive feeling; she had repeatedly heard boys talk about how girls couldn’t shoot like them. Thus, the young girl tried to prove the opposite. Lyudmila’s goal was the courses that she decided to take in order to achieve maximum success. We can say that she has achieved considerable success. At that time, Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko’s personal life did not interest her; she set herself a different goal and strove for it.

In 1937, he easily entered the university, the history department. Her dream was to become a teacher and teach children. At the beginning of the war, Lyudmila underwent pre-graduation internship in Odessa. She made the decision to join the military without any doubt. Of course, she was immediately refused; she had to prove that she could really resist the enemy in an unequal battle.

One of the stories from Lyudmila’s life that is really worth telling. To test the girl's willpower, the officers brought two fascists who were Romanians by nationality, they were detained and taken from the front. Lyudmila was given a gun and given the order to shoot them. Without hesitation, she did everything she needed to do. As a result, she received permission to serve and the rank of private in the 25th Infantry Division. Thus, sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko became part of the Soviet army. Her future successes and achievements will become part of history more than once.

She really wanted to quickly complete training and get to the front, but everything is not so simple. In the evenings she thought about how she would act if she met the Nazis, what actions she would have to take. But now she is already on the battlefield, in her hands is a Mosin rifle. After her comrade fell dead, she decided that it was no longer possible to retreat and began to shoot. This is how the war began for a young girl, where she felt all the hardships of military service.

First tasks

After successfully completing sniper training, she is sent to replace her as a platoon commander. At that time, Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, without sparing herself, destroyed the fascist soldiers. But after a shell exploded near her, she was shell-shocked.

Many soldiers who were next to her noted that no matter what, she never retreated and even shell-shocked continued to fight in that battle.

In October 1941 he was sent to defend Sevastopol. Its main task was to track down as many fascist officers and soldiers as possible and eliminate them. Thus, every morning she got up and went in search. Not many people understand how difficult a sniper’s job is, when you have to lie in one place for days so as not to give yourself away, especially if your opponent is another sniper. But Lyudmila emerged victorious every time. Of course, many were interested in the personal life of sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko and the meeting with Leonid was fateful. As the woman herself said, they were comrades, but there was no love between them.

Leonid Kutsenko is a friend of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, with whom they began to serve together and supported each other in everything. Her personal life and relationships did not work out in the pre-war period, so she became close to Leonid. Together they carried out difficult tasks assigned to them by the command. One of the cases occurred in Sevastopol. After receiving information from intelligence, Pavlyuchenko and Kutsenko were sent to destroy the command post of German soldiers. After they took positions that were good from a sniper's point of view, they killed two officers. But as it turned out, there were other soldiers nearby who immediately came to help. Thus, Kutsenko and Pavlyuchenko entered into an unequal battle with several dozen fascists, and emerged victorious. They had to gradually change positions so as not to give away their location.

Death of Kutsenko

It is clear that the actions of Soviet snipers were always effective. The fascist leadership received a considerable amount of information from intelligence, including about Pavlyuchenko. In order to exterminate Soviet snipers, ambushes were organized and very serious snipers from the German army were sent. Thus, Pavlyuchenko and Kutsenko were also ambushed. Caught under unbearable mortar fire. Kutsenko received a large number of wounds, but Lyudmila was still able to carry him to her own people, but he died.

The grief that the girl had to endure was simply unbearable. She became even more excited to destroy as many opponents as possible. In addition to everything at that time, she was training future snipers. About a hundred masters of their craft were sent to the front after Pavlyuchenko’s courses.

Events in Sevastopol

After Kutsenko's death, Lyudmila continued to work and track down enemies in the mountainous regions of Sevastopol. Even in winter, she went out at night to hunt for fascists. She had to hide in hollows and ledges that were always wet and damp. It was simply an unbearable test, but she always endured because she knew that she would achieve results. Any sniper who gives away his location is simply doomed to death.

In one of her personal battles, also in an ambush, she destroyed several fascist machine gunners, but was discovered by others. Thus, Lyudmila remained in ambush, and there was nowhere to retreat. Finally, fog descended into the mountains, which helped Pavlyuchenko take a more advantageous position. She crawled along the wet rocks to her cherished goal, but they still noticed her and opened fire. At that moment, the bullets whistled so close that they even pierced his cap. In general, having taken a position for cover, I killed all five soldiers, one ran away. She knew he would soon bring others, and she needed a weapon. Plucking up courage, I made my way to the dead on my bellies, collected all the ammunition and again hid in my ambush. She fired various weapons to show that she was not alone in the shelter. This is how she managed to escape.

Continuation of service

After such events and exploits, she was sent to another regiment. At that time, a German sniper was working at the location of this military unit. He destroyed everyone who came into his field of vision. Pavlyuchenko was given the task of tracking down and eliminating him. For several days she was in ambush, one might say it was a hidden battle, since on the opposite side there was exactly the sniper who needed to be eliminated. In general, Lyudmila managed to endure all the difficulties and killed him. After searching the enemy, she became convinced that it was the same Dunkirk that killed more than five thousand soldiers throughout Europe. After that, the sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko became known all over the world.

Constant exposure to the cold, intense physical activity, and injuries all significantly reduced Lyudmila’s well-being. She was forcibly expelled from the sniper staff because she did not agree to sign the documents herself. After this, her military service ended. On behalf of the authorities, she visited the United States and other countries on official visits. Afterwards she worked as a sniper instructor.

The meeting between Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko and Eleanor Roosevelt was very brightly covered in the foreign media. The president's wife suggested that she stay in America, where she could become famous, successful and rich. But still, Pavlyuchenko was a patriot and returned back. Her goal was to attract the attention of the United States so that they would enter the war. Thus, the action took place.

Post-war years

After graduating from university, he entered service at the scientific center of the USSR Navy. She worked there until 1953. Subsequently, she transferred to a quieter job, helping to provide assistance to veterans. She was a member of the association for friendship with African countries and visited Africa more than once. Thus, she was involved not only in military but also in political affairs. A large number of international trips, of course, led to the emergence of some interest on the part of the KGB in Lyudmila’s personality. In fact, she always supported Soviet power.

The meeting between Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko and Eleanor Roosevelt also could not go unnoticed. These are two women who became close friends from the first time they met. The wife of the US President herself admired the exploits of the Soviet sniper. The personal life of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko also could not go unnoticed. She was able to raise her son and did not lose her influence and honor.

Until the end of her life, Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko was a shining example of courage and perseverance. They wrote about her in a variety of publications and only in a positive way. She visited educational institutions more than once, where she talked about what she did during the war and what events happened in her life. In 1974, this legendary woman and warrior passed away. She is buried in Moscow. This is exactly how Lyudmila was remembered by many of her contemporaries.

In memory of the exploits of sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, a film was made, which also touched on her personal life. In fact, this picture is only part of the story, and many of the scenes are simply fictitious, like the characters. “The Battle for Sevastopol” is a film that to some extent reflects the personal life and relationships with men of a sniper. Pavlyuchenko herself never thought about love or relationships during her service. The most important thing for her was to destroy the enemy.

On July 12, 1916, in the city of Belaya Tserkov (Kiev region, Ukrainian SSR), the most successful female sniper in world history was born, who had 309 confirmed fatal hits on enemy soldiers and officers, sniper of the 25th Chapaevskaya Rifle Division of the Red Army, Hero Soviet Union, major Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko.

Participant in the Great Patriotic War since June 1941, volunteer. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1945. As part of the Chapaev division, it participated in defensive battles in Moldova and southern Ukraine. For her good training, she was assigned to a sniper platoon. From August 10, 1941, as part of the division, it participated in the defense of Odessa. In mid-October 1941, the troops of the Primorsky Army were forced to leave Odessa and evacuate to Crimea to strengthen the defense of the city of Sevastopol, the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet.

After graduating from school, Lyudmila Pavlichenko worked for 5 years at the Arsenal plant in Kyiv. Then she graduated from 4 courses at Kyiv State University. While still a student, she graduated from sniper school.

In July 1941, she volunteered for the army. She fought first near Odessa, and then near Sevastopol.

By July 1942, the sniper of the 2nd company of the 54th Infantry Regiment (25th Infantry Division, Primorsky Army, North Caucasus Front) Lieutenant L. M. Pavlichenko destroyed 309 enemy soldiers and officers with a sniper rifle, including 36 snipers.

On October 25, 1943, for courage and military valor shown in battles with enemies, she was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1943, Coast Guard Major L.M. Pavlichenko completed the “Shot” course. She no longer took part in hostilities.

In 1945 she graduated from Kiev State University. From 1945 to 1953 she was a research fellow at the General Staff of the Navy. She participated in many international congresses and conferences and did a lot of work in the Soviet War Veterans Committee. Author of the book “Heroic Reality”. She died on October 27, 1974. She was buried in Moscow.

Awarded orders: Lenin (twice), medals. The name of the Heroine is given to a vessel of the Marine River Economy.

In fighting Sevastopol, the name of the sniper of the 25th Chapaev Division, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, was well known. Her enemies also knew her, with whom Sergeant Pavlichenko had his own scores to settle. She was born in the city of Belaya Tserkov, Kyiv region. After graduating from school, she worked for several years at the Kiev Arsenal plant, then entered the history department of Kyiv State University. As a student, she mastered the skill of a sniper at a special school at Osoaviakhim.

She came from Kyiv to Odessa to complete her thesis here on Bogdan Khmelnitsky. She worked in the city scientific library. But the war broke out and Luda volunteered for the army.

She received her first baptism of fire near Odessa. Here, in one of the battles, the platoon commander was killed. Lyudmila took command. She rushed to the machine gun, but an enemy shell exploded nearby, and she was shell-shocked. However, Lyudmila did not go to the hospital, she remained in the ranks of the city’s defenders, and boldly defeated the enemy.

In October 1941, the Primorsky Army was transferred to Crimea. For 250 days and nights, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet, she heroically fought with superior enemy forces and defended Sevastopol.

Every day at 3 o'clock in the morning Lyudmila Pavlichenko usually went out into ambush. She either lay for hours on the wet, damp ground, or hid from the sun so that the enemy would not see. It often happened that in order to shoot for sure, she had to wait a day, or even two.

But the girl, a courageous warrior, knew how to do it. She knew how to endure, knew how to shoot accurately, knew how to camouflage herself, and studied the habits of the enemy. And the number of fascists destroyed by her grew all the time...

The sniper movement developed widely in Sevastopol. Marksmanship specialists were assigned to all parts of the SOR (Sevastopol Defensive Region). With their fire they destroyed many fascist soldiers and officers.

On March 16, 1942, a rally of snipers was held. Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky and General Petrov spoke at it. The report was made by the Chief of Staff of the Army, General - Major Vorobev. Present at this meeting were: member of the Military Council of the Fleet, divisional commissar I. I. Azarov and member of the Military Council of the Primorsky Army, brigade commissar M. G. Kuznetsov.

Snipers, well known in Sevastopol, made heated speeches. Among them was Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, who had 187 exterminated fascists in Odessa and already 72 in Sevastopol. She pledged to bring the number of killed enemies to 300. The famous sniper Noah Adamia, sergeant of the 7th Marine Brigade, and many also spoke other. They all took obligations to destroy as many fascist invaders as possible and help train new snipers.

The Nazis suffered heavy losses from sniper fire. In April 1942, 1,492 enemies were destroyed, and in just 10 days of May - 1,019.

One day in the spring of 1942, on one of the sectors of the front, a German sniper caused a lot of trouble. It was not possible to eliminate him. Then the command of the unit instructed Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who by that time was already a recognized shooter, to destroy him. Lyudmila established: the enemy sniper acts like this: he crawls out of the trench and approaches, then hits the target and retreats. Pavlichenko took a position and waited. I waited for a long time, but the enemy sniper showed no signs of life. Apparently, he noticed that he was being watched and decided not to rush.

In the evening, Pavlichenko ordered her observer. leave The night has passed. The German was silent. When dawn broke, he began to approach cautiously. She raised the rifle and saw his eyes in the scope. Shot. The enemy fell down dead. She crawled towards him. It was written in his personal book that he was a high-class sniper and during the battles in the west he destroyed about 500 French soldiers and officers.

“A historian by training, a warrior by mentality, she fights with all the fervor of her young heart” - this is what the Krasny Chernomorets newspaper wrote about her on May 3, 1942.

One day Lyudmila entered into single combat with 5 German machine gunners. Only one managed to escape. Another time, a brave girl - warrior and sniper Leonid Kitsenko was tasked with getting to the German command post and destroying the officers there. Having suffered losses, the enemies fired mortars at the place where the snipers were located. But Lyudmila and Leonid, having changed their position, continued to fire accurately. The enemy was forced to abandon his command post.

While snipers were performing combat missions, the most unexpected incidents often happened. Lyudmila Pavlichenko spoke about one of them:

“Once 5 snipers went on a night ambush. We passed the enemy's front line and camouflaged ourselves in the bushes near the road. In 2 days we managed to exterminate 130 fascist soldiers and 10 officers. The angry Nazis sent a company of machine gunners against us. One platoon began to go around the height on the right, and the other on the left. But we quickly changed our position. The Nazis, not understanding what was going on, started shooting at each other, and the snipers safely returned to their unit.”

In the fall of 1942, a delegation of Soviet youth consisting of the Secretary of the Komsomol Committee N. Krasavchenko, L. Pavlichenko and V. Pchelintsev, at the invitation of youth organizations, went to the USA and then to England. At that time, the Allies were greatly concerned about the need to conduct not only military training, but also the spiritual mobilization of youth. The trip was intended to further this goal. At the same time, it was important to establish connections with various foreign youth organizations.

Hero of the Soviet Union, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko (third from right) among workers at a small arms factory in Liverpool. 1942

The Soviet people were greeted with extraordinary enthusiasm. Everywhere they were invited to rallies and meetings. Newspapers wrote about our snipers on the front pages. There was a stream of letters and telegrams addressed to the delegation.

In the United States, Pavlichenko met with the president's wife. Eleanor Roosevelt was very attentive to Lyudmila.

Both in the USA and in England, the trip of the delegation of Soviet youth received a very big response. For the first time during the war years, the British met representatives of the youth of the fighting Soviet people. Our envoys carried out their high mission with dignity. The speeches of the delegates were full of confidence in victory over fascism. The people who raised such young people cannot be defeated - was the unanimous opinion of the British...

Lyudmila Mikhailovna was distinguished not only by her high sniper skill, but also by her heroism and dedication.

She not only destroyed hated enemies herself, but also taught other warriors the art of sniper. She was injured. Her combat score - 309 destroyed enemy soldiers and officers - is the best result among female snipers.

In 1943, the brave girl was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union(The only one among women snipers awarded this title during her lifetime. Others were awarded posthumously).

And so Pavlichenko arrived in Moscow from Sevastopol, straight from the firing position. She was dressed in military style: a tunic tied with a belt, a skirt, and boots on her feet.

War changes people's psychology. Love for the Motherland leads a person to conscious self-denial in the name of victory. The most difficult art of a sniper, it would seem, is not a woman’s job at all. But the Kyiv University student became a threat to enemies in Sevastopol.

Lyudmila talked about the battles calmly, without drama. She recalled in detail how she chose the most convenient firing positions - those from which the enemy could least expect fire. And the story turned out as if it was led by a born warrior, and not by yesterday’s student. It was noticeable that she was tired, and at the same time it seemed unusual and strange for her to suddenly leave Sevastopol. It was felt that Lyudmila felt awkward in front of the comrades whom she left behind; they continued to live amid the roar of explosions and the flames of fires.

How I “hunted” in Sevastopol.

“...In Sevastopol I came back to my unit. Then I had a head wound. I was always wounded only by fragments of long-range shells; everything else somehow passed me by. But the Krauts sometimes gave such “concerts” to snipers, which was downright terrifying. As soon as they detect sniper fire, they begin to sculpt you, and they sculpt you for three hours straight. There is only one thing left: lie down, be silent and don’t move. Either they will kill you, or you have to wait until they shoot back.

The German snipers also taught me a lot, and their science was beneficial. It used to be that they would catch me and pin me to the ground. Well, I shout:

"Machine gunners, save us!"

And until they fire a couple of bursts from a machine gun, I cannot get out of the shelling. And the bullets are constantly whistling above your ear and landing literally next to you, but not at me.

What did I learn from the German snipers? They taught me, first of all, how to put a helmet on a stick so that you could think that it was a person. I used to do this: I see a Fritz standing there. “Well,” I think, “mine!” I shoot, but it turns out I only hit the helmet. It even got to the point where she fired several shots and still didn’t realize that it wasn’t a person. Sometimes I even lost all self-control. And while you’re shooting, they discover you and start giving a “concert.” Here we had to be patient. They also set up mannequins; standing just like a living Fritz, you also open fire. There were cases here that this was carried out not only by snipers, but also by artillerymen.

Snipers have different techniques. I usually lie in front of the front line, or under a bush, or tear off a trench. I have several firing points. I am at one point for no more than two or three days. I always have an observer with me who looks through binoculars, gives me directions, and keeps an eye on the dead. Intelligence checks the dead. Lying in one place for 18 hours is quite a difficult task, and you cannot move, and therefore there are simply critical moments. You need hellish patience here. During the ambush, they took with them dry rations, water, sometimes soda, sometimes chocolate, but in general snipers were not allowed chocolate...

My first rifle was destroyed near Odessa, the second - near Sevastopol. In general, I had one so-called exit rifle, and my working rifle was an ordinary three-line rifle. I had good binoculars.

Our day went like this: no later than 4 o’clock in the morning you go to the battlefield and sit there until the evening. I call my firing position combat. If not to the battlefield, then they went behind enemy lines, but then they left no later than 3 o’clock in the morning. It also happened that you would lie there all day, but not kill a single Kraut. And if you lie like this for 3 days and still don’t kill a single person, then no one will probably talk to you later, because you are literally furious.

I must say that if I didn’t have the physical skills and training, I wouldn’t be able to lie in an ambush for 18 hours. I felt this especially at first; as they say, “a bad head gives no rest to your feet.” I got into such trouble that I had to lie down and wait until either the Krauts stopped shooting or the machine gunners came to the rescue. And it happens that the machine gunners are far away, because you won’t shout to them:

"Help me out!"

Near Sevastopol, the Germans complained loudly about our snipers, they knew many of our snipers by name, and often said:

“Hey, come over to us!”

And then they said:

“Damn you! You’ll be lost anyway.”

But there was not a single case of snipers surrendering. There were cases that at critical moments snipers killed themselves, but did not surrender to the Germans..."

Lyudmila Pavlichenko at a meeting with compatriots

Lyudmila Pavlichenko completed military service with the rank of major. After the war, she completed her studies at Kiev University, then worked for many years as a researcher at the General Staff of the Navy, and worked in the Soviet Committee of War Veterans.

She raised her son, got married again, and lived a full life. She won the right to this life for herself, for her loved ones and for all Soviet people, by standing in the way of the enemy and winning an unconditional victory over him.

But the incredible strain of strength during the war years, wounds and concussions made themselves felt. Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko died on October 27, 1974, at the age of 58. Her final resting place was the columbarium of the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

In the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia, a special stand is dedicated to the feat of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, where her weapons and personal belongings are exhibited. The feat is not for “Lady Death”, but for an ordinary woman who brought her youth to the altar of Victory - one for all. -12

From me:

The enemies of the Soviet people have produced, in my opinion, a false narrative saturated with psychological poison. film about the life of Lyudmila Pavlichenko. This is bad. a film from the category of such fakes as . Therefore, I do not recommend watching this brain slop.

iov75 in the post True stories from women about the war .
In 1916, in the town of Belaya Tserkov in Ukraine, a beautiful girl Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko was born. A little later, her family moved to Kyiv. After finishing the ninth grade, Lyudmila worked as a grinder at the Arsenal plant and at the same time studied in the tenth grade, completing her secondary education.
In 1937 she entered the history department of Kyiv State University. As a student, like many others then, she was involved in gliding and shooting sports. The Great Patriotic War found Lyudmila in Odessa during graduate practice. From the very first days of the war, Lyudmila Pavlichenko volunteered to go to the front.
Lieutenant Pavlichenko fought in the 25th Chapaevskaya Rifle Division. She took part in battles in Moldova, in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. By June 1942, Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko had already killed 309 German soldiers and officers. In a year! For example, Matthias Hetzenauer, who was probably the most productive German sniper of World War II during the four years of the war - 345.
In June 1942 Lyudmila was wounded. Having barely recovered, she was sent with a delegation to Canada and the United States. During the trip, she received a reception from the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. Many people then remembered her performance in Chicago. " Gentlemen, - a ringing voice rang out over the crowd of thousands of people gathered. — I am twenty five years old. At the front, I had already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you've been hiding behind my back for too long??!” The crowd froze for a minute, and then exploded into a frenzied roar of approval...
After returning, Major Pavlichenko served as an instructor at the Vystrel sniper school. On October 25, 1943, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war in 1945, Lyudmila Mikhailovna graduated from Kiev University. From 1945 to 1953 she was a research fellow at the General Staff of the Navy. Later she worked in the Soviet War Veterans Committee. She died on October 27, 1974 in Moscow. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Take a look at her beautiful face.

For myself, I long ago realized why in difficult situations women are often tougher and more desperate than men. Since ancient times, men have competed in one way or another: hunting, tournaments... And also since ancient times, if a woman had to take up a weapon, it means there are no longer any living male defenders left at the entrance to the cave or at the gate of the castle. Historically and from the point of view of nature, a woman is the last line of defense, she has only children and decrepit old people behind her, and there is no one to help her. This is the attitude we fight with if we suddenly have to fight. It cannot be otherwise, it is against our nature.

Now trolls and those close to them will come running, claiming that a woman’s place is “kinder, kirchen, kuchen.” I’ll tell them all at once, so that I can only ban them later: “Who are you to tell us our place? You don’t have to answer me, answer yourself.”