Free Republic

With 309 confirmed kills, she became a heroic figure to the Soviets—but the American media didn't know what to make of her. Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko For Lyudmila Pavlichenko, killing Nazis wasn't complicated. “The only feeling I have is the great satisfaction a hunter feels who has killed a beast of prey,” she once said of her job. But Pavlichenko wasn’t just any soldier: She was the most successful female sniper in history, and one of the most successful snipers, period. As a member of the Soviet Army during World War II, she killed 309 Nazis, earning the sobriquet “Lady...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his long-suffering wife, Lyudmila, are ending their nearly 30-year marriage, they announced on state television Thursday in a tone of mutual indifference. “We practically never saw each other,” Putin told a reporter from the Rossiya 24 network as he and his soon-to-be-ex-wife departed a Kremlin ballet performance. “To each his own life.” Russia’s first couple gave little explanation of why they chose to end the marriage now, other than the president’s assertion that “it was our joint decision.” … The couple’s infrequent public appearances have sparked wild media reports and speculation. One particularly steady rumor...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2012/russian-agent-and-10-other-members-of-procurement-network-for-russian-military-and-intelligence-operating-in-the-u.s.-and-russia-indicted-in-new-york Russian Agent and 10 Other Members of Procurement Network for Russian Military and Intelligence Operating in the U.S. and Russia Indicted in New York Defendants Also Include Texas- and Russia-Based Corporations; 165 Persons and Companies ‘Designated’ by Commerce Department U.S. Attorney’s Office October 03, 2012 BROOKLYN, NY—An indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging 11 members of a Russian military procurement network operating in the United States and Russia, as well as a Texas-based export company and a Russia-based procurement firm, with illegally...