Roza Shanina

Roza Shanina
File:Roza Shanina.jpg
Allegiance	Red Army
Years of service	1943–1945
Rank	Senior Sergeant
Unit	3rd Belorussian Front
Battles / wars	Eastern Front of World War II
Awards	Orders of Glory 3rd and 2nd class, Medal for Valor

Roza Yegorovna Shanina (Template:Lang-ru, 1924 – January 28, 1945) was a Soviet sniper during World War II. She was responsible for 54 confirmed kills, including 12 enemy snipers, during the Battle of Vilnius.

File:Roza-Shanina profile.jpg

Shanina

After attending Arkhangelsk Teacher's Training College, she became a mentor in the kindergarten. Then, she voluntarily joined the Vsevobuch and later the Central Female Sniper Academy in Podolsk. On June 22, 1943, Shanina enlisted in the Red Army and on April 2, 1944, joined the 184th Rifle Division, where a separate female sniper platoon was formed. Once, upon receiving a battalion commander's order to immediately return to the rear, Shanina replied "I will return after the battle". The words later became a title of the book From The Battle Returned by Nikolai Zhuravlyov. On December 12, 1944 Roza was shot in the shoulder, and on December 27, 1944 was awarded the Medal for Valor. Shanina died in a battle near the khutor of Rikhau. Her battle diary and several letters have been published. Streets in Arkhangelsk and in the settlements of Shangaly and Stroyevskoye were named after her.

Shanina had four brothers: Mikhail, Fedor, Sergei, and Marat. Mikhail died during the Siege of Leningrad in 1941, while Fedor was killed the same year during the Battle of Crimea. Sergei never returned from the war alive, leaving Marat as the only survivor.

Further reading

• Template:Ru icon Журавлëв, Н. После боя вернулась… (За честь и славу Родины). М., Досааф. 1985