# White Stocking Snipers



## 3rd Herd (19 Aug 2007)

I have found a couple small references to a para military group of female snipers that fought against the Russians in Chechnya. One written article has them as former Ukrainian biathlon athletes under the age of fourty. With the title that originated in the 1920s. While several other small articles portray them as a mix of Balts and disatisfied Slavs.  Anyone know any more ?


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## armyvern (19 Aug 2007)

You mean the ethnic Lithuanian females?? "White Pantyhose" snipers??

You may have more luck running that search.

Vern

Edited to add ... I've heard the rumours ... but IIRC there's never actually been one proven; it was more of an a priori consideration that all females in Chechnya were considered as possible snipers.

I'll have to go put google-fu to use....


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## 3rd Herd (19 Aug 2007)

hey,
Larry Strong found me some info on Russian subs I needed. But even the journalists cannot figure this one out. The written reference I found was in a new book on snipers in the university stacks when looking for the S.M.L.E. information. No it is not worth a review. But the reference did catch my eye.


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## armyvern (19 Aug 2007)

A few of my "hits" ...

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a769139183~db=all

http://www.pecina.cz/files/www.ce-review.org/99/24/amber24.html

http://www.caucasus.dk/publication1.htm

http://www.chechentimes.org/en/chechentimes/17/?id=983

http://www.chechentimes.org/en/chechentimes/?id=15195

http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=9&issue_id=453&article_id=3869

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60613FB3E5B0C7A8EDDA80894DD494D81&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fRussia%20and%20the%20Former%20Soviet%20Union

This next one is interesting, a St. Petersburg opinion piece which basicly sums up that female rape victims of Chechnya always tended to be described by the Russians as "female snipers" from the "White Pantyhose Brigade"... the higher the rape statistics... the higher the numbers of "captured" female "snipers."

http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=20772


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## armyvern (19 Aug 2007)

3rd Herd said:
			
		

> hey,
> Larry Strong found me some info on Russian subs I needed. But even the journalists cannot figure this one out. The written reference I found was in a new book on snipers in the university stacks when looking for the S.M.L.E. information. No it is not worth a review. But the reference did catch my eye.



Well, from what I'm seeing (in both Russian and Chechnyan refs) it seems to be purely mythical. Brought about by propaganda trying to justify (or at least downplay) the high incidents of rape occuring amongst the females of Chechnya by Russian soldiers.

It seesm that there's even a movie out on it in Russian. I'll see if I can find a link to that ... the myth perpetuates itself.


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## armyvern (19 Aug 2007)

Well, I guess this may be the movie that the one link is referring to, but a quick read of it's storyline doesn't mention the White Pantyhose Brigade but it does mention Chechnya.

http://www.kinokultura.com/reviews/R7-05kavkazruletka.html


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## 3rd Herd (19 Aug 2007)

That is what makes it so interesting. The book article interviewed one of the supposed White stocking snipers in the Ukraine and fully identified her. They compared her to Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the "greatest" Russian female sniper. The name itself goes back to some of the wars of Independence following the downfall of the Czar.

Edit: spelling

Edit to add:

I do no think that these were Chechen women but 'outsiders'. The Chechen women got their claim to fame as the first female suicide bombers.


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## Greymatters (20 Aug 2007)

I thought the LTTE ladies were doing it before the Chechens, but it turns out we are both wrong.  Apparently a woman from the SSNP (Syrian Socialist National Party) in 1985 was the first. (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB408.pdf)


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## 3rd Herd (20 Aug 2007)

GreyMatter said:
			
		

> I thought the LTTE ladies were doing it before the Chechens, but it turns out we are both wrong.  Apparently a woman from the SSNP (Syrian Socialist National Party) in 1985 was the first. (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB408.pdf)



Nice find. I do not mind being wrong. This was sort of an aside of the sniper issue. In jest I could blame it on the Russian's quest for firsts.


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## Greymatters (20 Aug 2007)

I learn something new everyday here....

Back to the topic, there are numerous references to Chechen female snipers as "White stocking" or White pantyhose" snipers, and even a few referecens to females snipers from the Baltics having a similiar nickname ("White Pantyhose Brigade"), but there is no concrete evidence on the net that such a unit actually existed...


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## Good2Golf (24 Aug 2007)

...I must be using the wrong search engine....darn pop-ups!


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## Shamrock (24 Aug 2007)

Good2Golf said:
			
		

> ...I must be using the wrong search engine....darn pop-ups!



Make sure you have safe mode enabled before googling white stockings...


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## Colin Parkinson (24 Aug 2007)

Considering Biathlon and the Olympics were to prove peoples ability in the martial Arts, it would be fitting that some became snipers.


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