Lady Death, the female sniper who killed 300 Nazis soldiers

A Russian-Ukrainian film about a legendary Soviet sniper nicknamed ‘Lady Death’ is aiming to be a hit in both nations despite the crisis that has turned the former allies against each other.

Titled ‘Battle for Sevastopol’ in Russia but ‘Indestructible’ across the border in Ukraine, the movie – about a female sharpshooter who reportedly killed more than 300 Nazi troops – is a co-production between the two countries made just before relations nosedived.

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And despite the freeze in ties between the former Soviet nations that has seen Ukraine ban a slew of modern Russian films, the $5million (£3m) movie was launched last week with glitzy gala premieres in both Moscow and Kiev.

Director Sergei Mokritsky, who grew up in Ukraine but lives in Russia, told AFP: ‘Despite everything, it has been accepted both by the new Ukrainian authorities and our Russian ones.

‘I am hoping this film will unite people and at least for two hours, for the length of this film, people can come together in our shared history.’

The Russian-language film is about Ukrainian-born sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko – nicknamed ‘Lady Death’ – and comes out ahead of the 70th anniversary in May of the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War Two.