After the soldier who told a Russian warship officer to “go f*ck himself” and the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’, Ukraine has found and celebrates its latest national hero—codename “Charcoal.” A female Ukrainian sniper referred to by the aforementioned title has been heralded as the second coming of infamous WWII sharpshooter ‘Lady Death’—real name Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Born in Ukraine, Pavlichenko has been accredited as the most successful female sniper in history, killing 309 Nazis in the Second World War.
Now, joining the proud history of Ukrainian female snipers is the country’s latest hero. “Charcoal” (“Ugoliok” in Ukrainian), whose legal name is not publicly known, surfaced and circulated in popularity online as a result of a Facebook post by the Ukrainian armed forces. The images show her out in the field, making sure to maintain a level of anonymity with a shemagh-style scarf to somewhat obscure her identity (for her own protection)—her weapon also cloaked with camouflage netting. The post on the social media site by the country’s military has lauded her as a “hero of the modern war.”
The unnamed soldier initially joined Ukraine military forces back in 2017 in an aim to fight against pro-Russian separatists. Though leaving her army position in January 2022, war broke out, as we know, just a short month later and she was back among the ranks of the 35th infantry brigade of Rear Admiral Mykhailo.
In a rallying war cry to her fellow soldiers on the front, reported by The Times, Charcoal declared, “We must take them all out. These people are not human beings. Even the fascists were not as vile as these orcs. We must defeat them”—vowing to push back against invading Putin “to the very end.”