Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko was a Soviet Union sniper, considered the most successful female sniper and one of the top military snipers in war history. An amateur sharpshooter, Lyudmila kept her university study on hold to join the Red Army as Germany invaded Soviet Union. Although she had choice of serving as a nurse she insisted to join the infantry and was assigned to the 25th Rifle Division of the Red Army. She recorded a total of 309 sniper kills in the Second World War and was pulled back from combat due to her growing status. She was sent to Canada and the United States for publicity visit. She became the first citizen of Soviet Union who was received by a US President when she was welcomed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the White House. She was later promoted as major, however she never returned to the warfront and instead gave training to Soviet snipers till end of the war. She received several accolades for her war contributions including being awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
