The Riveting Rosies

Organizations supporting Ukrainians during this time:

International Relief Committee – we are currently supporting this organization with our swear jar proceeds.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko by Elise

Lyudmila Pavlichenko is the most successful female sniper to date, with a staggering 309 confirmed kills to her name.

Growing up in Kiev, Lyudmila quickly became a proficient sharpshooter & volunteered for the Red Army infantry – but not before being rejected at first, instead being told she should be a nurse.

Despite only being given a grenade for her weapon, she became a sniper after a dying comrade gave her his gun & she immediately shot 2 enemies in her “baptism of fire.”

Nicknamed “Lady Death” by the Nazis, Lyudmila quickly rose through the ranks, but her combat career ended with a battlefield injury.

Lyudmila then went on to train snipers throughout the rest of the war & formed a lifelong friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt after she undertook a public relations tour of the United States & Canada.

After WWII, Lyudmila finished her degree at Kiev University & became a historian & research assistant.

She died in 1974 after a stroke.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko with gold star, Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

References

St. Olga of Kiev by Corissa

Olga of Kiev was the first known female ruler of modern day Russia & is credited with bringing Christianity to the Rus’ people.

Married to Prince Igor I of Kiev at about age 15, she quashed his assassins & their rebellion to ensure her son would one day rule the Kievan Rus’ (literally you’ve listen to Corissa tell this story to believe it).

Despite such a violent start to her reign, she oversaw the first legal reform in Eastern Europe & established many trade routes/centers.

She then converted to Christianity, baptized by Constantinople VII in a highly calculated political move. After her death, she was canonized due to her efforts to spread the faith throughout Rus’.