Soviet women in World War II Soviet women played an important role in World War II ( whose Eastern Front was known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union ) . While most toiled in industry , transport , agriculture and other civilian roles , working double shifts to free up enlisted men to fight and increase military production , a sizable number of women served in the army . The majority were in medical units . There were 800 , 000 women who served in the Soviet Armed Forces during the war , which is roughly 3 percent of total military personnel . Nearly 200 , 000 were decorated and 89 of them eventually received the Soviet Union ’ s highest award , the Hero of the Soviet Union , among which some served as pilots , snipers , machine gunners , tank crew members and partisans , as well as in auxiliary roles . At first , when Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22 , 1941 , thousands of women who volunteered were turned away . Two factors changed attitudes and ensured a greater role for women who wanted to fight : the losses to the Germans after their initial success in 1941 and the efforts of determined women . In the early stages of the war , the fastest route to advancement in the military for women was service in medical and auxiliary units . Pilots . For Soviet women aviators , instrumental to this change was Marina Raskova , a famous Russian aviatrix , often referred to as the " Russian Amelia Earhart " . Raskova became famous as both a pilot and a navigator in the 1930s . She was the first woman to become a navigator in the Soviet Air Force in 1933 . A year later she started teaching at the Zhukovskii Air Academy , also a first for a woman . When World War II broke out , there were numerous women who had training as pilots and many immediately volunteered . While there were no formal restrictions on women serving in combat roles , their applications tended to be blocked , run through red tape , etc . for as long as possible in order to discourage them from seeing combat . Raskova is credited with using her personal connections with Joseph Stalin to convince the military to form three combat regiments for women . Not only would the women be pilots , but the support staff and engineers for these regiments were women . Although all three regiments had been planned to have women exclusively , only the 588th would remain an all - women regiment . The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women pilots to fly combat missions . These regiments with strength of almost hundred airwomen , flew a combined total of more than 30 , 000 combat sorties , produced at least twenty Heroes of the Soviet Union , and included two fighter aces . This military unit was initially called " Aviation Group 122 " while the three regiments received training . After their training , the three regiments received their formal designations as follows : The 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment : This unit was the first to take part in combat ( April 16 , 1942 ) of the three female regiments and take part in 4 , 419 combat missions ( 125 air battles and 38 kills ) . Lydia Litvyak and Yekaterina Budanova were assigned to the unit before joining the 437th IAP in the fighting over Stalingrad and became the world ' s only two female fighter ace s ( with 12 and 11 victories respectively ) , both flying the Yak - 1 fighter . The 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment : This was the best known of the regiments and was commanded by Yevdokia Bershanskaya . It originally began service as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment , but was redesignated in February 1943 as recognition for service which would tally almost 24 , 000 combat missions by the end of the war . Their aircraft was the Polikarpov Po - 2 , an outdated biplane . The Germans were the ones however who gave them the name that they are most well known as , " The Night Witches " . The 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment : Marina Raskova commanded this unit until her death in combat , and then the unit was assigned to Valentin Markov . It started service as the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment until it was given the Guards designation in September 1943 . Land forces . The Soviet Union deployed women snipers , and to good effect , including Nina Alexeyevna Lobkovskaya and Ukrainian Lyudmila Pavlichenko ( who killed over 300 German soldiers ) . The Soviets found that sniper duties fit women well , since good snipers are patient , deliberate and normally avoid hand - to - hand combat . Women served particurarly as medics , communication personnel and political officer s , as well - in small numbers - as machine gun ners , tank drivers , etc . Manshuk Mametova was a machine gunner from Kazakhstan and was the first Soviet Asian woman to receive the Hero of the Soviet Union for acts of bravery . Mariya Oktyabrskaya and Ukrainian Alexandra Samusenko were tank drivers decorated with the same award . Women crewed the majority of the anti - aircraft batteries employed in Stalingrad . Some batteries , including the 1077th Anti - Aircraft Regiment , also engaged in ground combat . In response to the high casualties suffered by male soldiers , Stalin allowed planning which would replace men with women in second lines of defense , such as anti - aircraft guns and medical aid . These provided gateways through which women could gradually become involved in combat . For example , women comprised 43 % of physicians , who were sometimes required to carry rifles as they retrieved men from firing zones . Through small opportunities like this , women gradually gained credibility in the military , eventually numbering 500 , 000 at any given time toward the end of the war . Partisans . Women consistituted significant numbers of the Soviet partisans . One of the most famous was Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya . In October 1941 , still an 18 - year - old high school student in Moscow , she volunteered for a partisan unit . At the village of Obukhovo near Naro - Fominsk , Kosmodemyanskaya and other partisans crossed the front line and entered territory occupied by the Germans . She was arrested by the Nazis on a combat assignment near the village of Petrischevo ( Moscow Oblast ) in late November 1941 . Kosmodemyanskaya was savagely tortured and humiliated , but did not give away the names of her comrades or her real name ( claiming that it was Tanya ) . She was hanged on November 29 , 1941 . It was claimed that before her death Kosmodemyanskaya had made a speech with the closing words , “ There are two hundred million of us ; you can ’ t hang us all ! ” Kosmodemyanskaya was the first woman to become Hero of the Soviet Union during the war ( February 16 , 1942 ) . The youngest woman to become a Hero of the Soviet Union was also a resistance fighter , Zinaida Portnova . She was visiting an aunt when the Germans invaded and was trapped behind German lines . In 1942 , aged 15 , after seeing the brutality of the occupying troops , Portnova joined the partisan movement in the Byelorussian SSR . She hid weapons for partisans , distributed leaflets and conducted sabotage . In January 1944 she was captured . She shot one of her captors whilst trying to escape but was caught and killed , just short of her 18th birthday . In 1958 Portnova was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union , there is a monument to her in the city of Minsk and some youth pioneer movement detachments were named after her . Soviet Women Soldiers : Propaganda and Lived Experiences . Soviet Heroines in War Propaganda . Throughout WWII , women appeared in Soviet war propaganda in various capacities . Between 1939 and 1941 , wary of German militarism and expansionism , Soviet propaganda encouraged women to undertake paramilitary civil defense training . After the German invasion in 1941 , propaganda portrayed women participating in war - related industries , in the medical sector , or in partisan units . Before the severe manpower shortages of 1942 , women were prohibited from serving in combat positions , and Soviet propaganda celebrated women ’ s contributions on the home front . In March 1942 , when the People ’ s Commissariat of Defense began enlisting women to replace male casualties in some combat roles , Soviet propaganda began honoring individual war heroines . The USSR utilized propaganda celebrating heroic servicewomen to recruit more female soldiers . As a result , the state directed these stories only towards female workers that could be spared for front line service . Magazines for women in industrial jobs , such as Rabotnitsa , called upon readers to fulfill their patriotic duty and take up arms like other brave female soldiers . Since agricultural work was vital for the war effort , articles for peasant women addressed females only as partisans . Media coverage ignored the broader contribution of female soldiers and concealed the number of women in combat positions . As the number of female soldiers increased , state media could no longer ignore their contribution to the war effort . When designated for a broader audience , propaganda emphasized the femininity of female soldiers , who were portrayed as pretty , energetic , and spirited . These women kept culture alive in the male dominated units , encouraging cleanliness among their male comrades . Propaganda represented older female soldiers as motherly figures , caring for the male soldiers , while younger women assumed a sisterly image . In this context , Soviet propaganda depicted the armed forces as a family , courageously defending the motherland against the Fascist invasion . Challenges Faced by Soviet Female Soldiers . Despite their romantic portrayal in Soviet propaganda , female soldiers faced challenges in the male - dominated military . First , the women struggled to obtain combat roles on the front lines . The 1936 Stalin constitution asserted that Soviet women were fully emancipated , but the state still considered women unsuited for combat . As a result , when war broke out in 1941 , the state rejected thousands of female volunteers eager to defend the motherland on the front lines . Even after the creation of all - female and mixed - gender combat units , some female soldiers were relegated to the rear . Women of the 1st Separate Women ’ s Volunteer Rifle Brigade , assigned to domestic service detail , became frustrated by their lack of combat action and requested to be sent to the front . When these requests were denied , many deserted to the front to fight for the fatherland ; if caught , the deserters were severely punished . Male - female relations in mixed - gender units posed a variety of challenges for women soldiers . Many women complained that the male - dominated military sought to defeminize servicewomen while denying them equal treatment , citing that it was one of the most difficult challenges they faced . Male officers often undermined the authority of the few female officers . When female officers failed to maintain command over their subordinates , male officers blamed female inferiority . In some cases , the tense relations between male and female soldiers escalated to sexual harassment and assault . For example , the 1st Separate Women ’ s Volunteer Rifle Brigade reported multiple instances of rape , resulting in sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies . Many women were unprepared for the harsh living conditions and tense gender relations they faced in combat units . Others were recruited despite the fact that they were ill , pregnant , unqualified , or unfit for military service . Some female soldiers struggled to adapt to military life , leading them to resort to extreme measures such as desertion or suicide . The Soviet military attributed these drastic actions to personal failings . Women , War , and the Soviet State . The stark contrast between the hardships of Soviet servicewomen and their portrayal in propaganda reveals the complex role of “ emancipated ” women in the male - dominated Soviet society . Conze and Fieseler argue that the first Bolsheviks asserted that women were equal in the USSR , but 1930s Stalinist propaganda promoted the image of women in the home , caring for their families . This ambivalent conception of women ’ s role in society parallels the state ’ s attitude towards females in the military ; women ’ s patriotic duty did not include combat until it became absolutely necessary . Even when the efforts of female soldiers could no longer be ignored , state propaganda concealed the full extent of their participation . Propaganda concerning female soldiers often functioned to preserve male societal dominance , portrayed them as motherly and sisterly figures , an image more consistent with women ’ s role in Soviet society . Furthermore , propaganda emphasized that women joined the army for patriotic reasons , such as protecting the fatherland or avenging dead relatives . These commendable motivations explained women ’ s ability to kill in combat , a phenomenon that contradicted established gender roles . The Soviet state resisted the deployment of servicewomen , using propaganda to justify female combatants after they became necessary . Conze and Fieseler argue that once women soldiers were no longer needed , they stopped appearing in the media . The state prevented female soldiers from marching in the Moscow Victory Parade . The gains of servicewomen towards female emancipation were ignored after the war , and the state encouraged women to return to their duties at home .