Laura Bailey plays the Female Sniper Polina Petrova in Call of Duty Vanguard
Polina Petrova is Call of Duty's deadly Russian sniper, here's who she was based on!
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Unless you really don’t care at all about the creative voice actors behind your favourite games, you’ll know who Laura Bailey is. The famous voice actress has a wide repertoire of roles, Black Widow in Marvel’s Avengers and Abby in The Last of Us Part 2. Although most people now know her from her many characters she’s starred as in Critical Role.
Now Laura will be bringing her dynamic and varied voice to play the Sniper, Polina Petrova in COD Vanguard.
Who is Polina Petrova?
Born and raised in Stalingrad, Polina is a soldier not by choice, but by a need to defend her country. She grew up in Stalingrad and lived a happy childhood there, being a skilled hunter with her father and brother. But when war broke out, Polina was affected by the brutal Axis invasion of Operation Barbarossa. Using her skills, she’s on a path of vengeance and retribution for all she and her community lost.
Polina speaks with purpose and focus. She’s not one for other’s company and is more of a lone wolf, only really opening up to those she trusts and respects.
Was Polina Petrova a real person?
Although Polina is not real, the character was based off a real and brilliant sniper. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet Sniper in the Red Army during WW2. She was credited with 309 confirmed kills, marking her as the most successful female sniper in recorded history.
Pavlichenko was among the first round of volunteers at the Odessa recruiting office, there she requested to join the infantry. Although she was pushed to be a nurse, she later completed multiple training courses and proved herself a capable sniper. She was one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, of whom only 500 survived the war.
In 1941, when a fallen comrade hended her his bolt-action rifle, she took her first two lives, proving herself to her comrades.
Lady Death
Later, during a two and a half month period, she recorded 187 kills. After that, she was promoted to Senior Sergeant where she confirmed another 100 kills.
At 25, she married a fellow sniper, Alexei Kitsenko. But soon after the marriage, Alexei was mortally wounded from a mortal shell and passed in the hospital.
She later trained other snipers in the Red Army. Her total confirmed kills during WW2 wound up being 309, including 36 Axis snipers. Meaning she faced off and won against 36 other snipers aiming at her.
She later got the nickname Lady Death.
If Lyudmila Pavlichenko doesn’t see some kind of film adaptation of her life in the next coming years, I’ll be sure to riot. Her story of bravery, strength and brilliance is one worth sharing. Oh and also, whoever complains that having a ‘female sniper’ in COD is historically inaccurate are completely wrong, as Pavlichenko has proven.
