Ekaterina Vasilevskaya

Portrait of Ekaterina

### Battles/Wars

WWII (1942-1945)• Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of Kursk, Liberation of Poland, Battle of Berlin

### Awards

Hero of the Soviet Union (1943)Order of Lenin (1945)

## Personal Life

### Height

157cm (5'1)

> *"...what does that even mean?"*
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> - Ekaterina, in referral to the word "Pineapple"
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> *"Anyone just.... not like this 'American Cheese?' It seems sort of artificial."*
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>
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> - Ekaterina in regards to American rations
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>

## Profile

Sergeant Ekaterina Vasilievskya is a young Red Army sergeant that served as a sniper during the Great Patriotic War. She is a skilled marksman, gaining heavy recognition due to her ability to shoot, and to teach others how to shoot. She is considered the poster child of her infantry unit.

She is eventually transferred to a logistical position in the rear lines by the request of Sgt. Pavlov & Starshy Sgt. von Messerschmitt in late 1943.

## Appearance

Ekaterina is described as a short, young woman with Asian features. It is unknown what ethnicity she is. She has dark brown hair, usually tied into a braid crown. She often is seen wearing the uniform of the Red Army, sometimes that being the tan field dress, other times being the regular tunic over a pleated blue NKVD-style skirt. She very rarely, unless she's on the field, is seen wearing pants. She also wears a blue obr. 1936 blue beret, usually issued to female members of the Red Army and VVS.

She has pale skin, prone to reddening in the cold. She is sometimes seen wearing glasses when reading.

## Personality

Ekaterina is quiet. She doesn't really like to talk with people she doesn't know. She can totally hold a conversation with a stranger, she just prefers to stay around people that she knows. She has a very sweet sort of front that she puts on for those kinds of people, but really, she doesn't care less.

In regards to her comrades, Sgt. von Messerschmitt and Sgt. Pavlov, Ekaterina is quite close to them, and spends most of her time around them. She is also friends with Mladshy Sgt. Federova. It is rumoured that she actually came to the USSR in a similar fashion to Sgt. Federova, but this is unconfirmed.

She has a generally competitive, almost negative personality towards Lieutenant Novikov. He often likes to flaunt his power jokingly, to which she takes a little too seriously, and gets mad over.

## Background

Ekaterina Ivanovich Vasilievskya (Later, Novikova) was born on June 1st, 1919.

There is so little known about her past by her co-workers, that she's often considered to be that one mystery girl. She, for some reason, refuses to disclose her origins, and has brought that promise to the death with her. Not even her husband knows where she's from.

Her first records came from a labour camp somewhere in Siberia. It is known that she was arrested and brought to this institution after some sort of mixup in the Far East. Ekaterina did not speak Russian, and no one thought to check if she spoke any other languages. The name Ekaterina was given to her by the guards, who had been given the chance to name her. At least they weren't mean about it.

The last name Vasilievskya was given to her following her re-education and assimilation into the Soviet lifestyle in the late 1930s. It was the last name of the educator who had taught her Russian. Deemed harmless by the state, she somehow made her way onto the census and was granted Soviet citizenship by 1937. After a long struggle to communicate, she learnt how to read and write Russian to a comprehensible level by the turn of the decade. Ekaterina attended Leningrad State University from 1938-41, majoring in linguistics, before dropping out due to the German Invasion of the USSR.

Ekaterina initially volunteered to fight on the frontline, but her admission was turned down due to unknown reasons. She actually doesn't know why they turned her application down. From 1941 to mid 1942, she worked in a factory, producing various small arms, most notably pistols. She did not find interest in the factory business, and following the Soviet pushback at Stalingrad, joined a partisan group in order to defend the city, and eventually made her way into the ranks of the Red Army.

She was retrained for 3 months as an infantryman before being attached to the 13th Guards Rifle Division. There, she served as a sniper, tasked with taking out officers, captain and above, as well as other important targets. Formidable at her job, she racked up those kills, and ultimately became a posterchild for the Guards unit. She continued in her trade, meeting various other people as she went.

Ekaterina made friends with Sgt. Lukyan Pavlov during the Battle of Stalingrad, as he served as her spotter. The two were a duo for a while, being credited with 26 kills.

As 1943 came around, Ekaterina followed her unit towards the City of Kursk, in order to counterattack the German forces attempting to create the Kursk Pocket. It was here that Night of the Patriots took place. Ekaterina became a solo sniper at this time, with Lukyan gaining his own spotter, Sgt. Klara Federova. She would often complete missions at night, which would leave her exhausted through the day. It was at this time that she met Lieutenant Novikov, spilling a cup of tea on him, which sparked a huge fight between the riflemen and the tankers in the tavern that day.

It was around this time that she received a love confession from her current husband. She didn't really know who to expect, but she was pulled aside a late evening before going out by one of the tankers, Sgt. von Messerschmitt, who informed her that he had a superior who seemed to act a little different at her name. Ekaterina didn't think much of it, since she was often catcalled and recognised for her efforts, but it seemed that everything was getting a little weirder as of recent. This was not the last time that Sgt. von Messerschmitt had talked with Ekaterina about this topic. It turned out that it was an officer getting von Messerschmitt to talk to her, the aforementioned Artyom Novikov, that she despised.

Despite this, she entertained his idea and decided to use this opportunity to keep herself alive. Kinda gave her a reason not to just off herself after shooting someone.

Ekaterina would get thoroughly involved in the Night of the Patriots situation, in where she would be the one to scout the commander's daily routine. She gained her Hero of the Soviet Union after a report was put in for good conduct during this situation. She did not face the threat of demotion.

She would end up being moved to logistics after this situation, then eventually be brought back to the front in late 1944, during the Liberation of Poland. She participated alongside her unit, before finishing up the war at the Elbe, during the Berlin Offensive. She met with American soldiers, who were bewildered at the idea of a female soldier, let alone one of colour. Grow up boys, it's 1945. Progression.

Ekaterina would get married in 1946 to now Guards Captain Novikov, and take on his last name. She would continue in the Soviet Army as an arms instructor until 1950, to where she retired at the final rank of Captain. She would live the rest of her life as a housewife, eventually raising 3 children.

Ekaterina Ivanovna Novikova would pass away on December 26th, 1991, at 72 years old.

## Relationships

### Serzhant Lukyan Nikolaevich Pavlov

Ekaterina is closely tied with Lukyan. During the Battle for Stalingrad, Lukyan was her spotter, helping her gain her many kills, which would later contribute to her awards. She is still close friends with him to this day, and often likes to hang out with him around his dacha.

### Starsky Leytenant Artyom Antonovich Novikov

Ekaterina despised Artyom at the start of their acquaintanceship. She would often talk down about him, and speak her mind against his opinions. After his confession, she started to take his wants to heart, and made amends with him. By the time that he told her about their plans, she was well enough on his side in order to help them in their cause.

Ekaterina seems to enjoy Artyom's presence more and more each time they talk.

## Trivia

* Despite not understanding Russian at first, she was quite linguistically capable. Prior to her arrest, she spoke 2 unknown languages (rumoured to be Cantonese and Japanese) and English.
* Ekaterina is often called Katyusha- the diminutive of her name- by Sgt. von Messerschmitt.
* Ekaterina is also called RinRin around Lt. Novikov. He only starts to call her this seriously after confessing his love.
* Ekaterina is named after the Girls und Panzer character.
* She is the grandmother of Kliment Novikov.
* Her favourite food is vanilla cake.
* She is eligible for a personal Guards status, as she is a veteran of the Battle of Stalingrad.
* SHE IS SO SMALL I WANT A DRAWING OF HER EATING A CHEESEBURGER.......
* She is the only character to have a formal Guards appointment due to her participation during the Battle of Stalingrad.
* Ekaterina is a new character. She was created to replace Klara Federova-Liu, from the first iterations of The Envelope.
* She is the only female character in The Envelope: NTP. She is also the only character of colour.
* We… don't actually know where Ekaterina is from. She might be Chinese or Southeast Asian or something. Even as I write this I have no idea what she is.
* It’s a running joke that she might be FILIPINO.
* Her favourite food is VANILLA CAKE.
* She smells like VANILLA CAKE.
* Her namesake is Marshal Alexander Vasilievsky.

## Gallery

Ekaterina FullbodyPortrait of Ekaterinacheeseburger katichibi katiReference Sheet