Snipers of the Soviet Union

Snipers of the Soviet Union played an important role mainly on the Eastern Front of World War II, apart from other preceding and subsequent conflicts. In World War II, Soviet snipers used the 7.62×54mmR rifle cartridge with light, heavy, armour-piercing (B-30), armour-piercing-incendiary (B-32), zeroing-and-incendiary (P3), and tracer bullets. Most Soviet World War II snipers carried a combat load of 120 rifle cartridges in the field.^[1]

During World War II, 428,335 individuals, including partisans, are believed to have received Red Army sniper training, and of those 9,534 obtained higher-level qualifications.^[2] Unlike the militaries of other states, these snipers could be men or women.^[3] Between 1941–1945, a total of 2,484 Soviet female snipers were functioning in this role, of whom about 500 survived the war.^[4][5]