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White Tights, White Pantyhose or White Stockings (Russian: белые колготки, beliye kolgotki; Lithuanian: baltosios pėdkelnės; Latvian: baltās zeķbikses; Estonian: valged sukkpüksid) is a Russian urban legend about female sniper mercenaries fighting against Russian forces in various armed conflicts from the late 1980s. The legend describes these women as blond Amazon-like nationalistic biathletes turned anti-Russian mercenaries. They come predominantly from the Baltic states, but subsequent variations of the legend have diversified the ethnic composition of the snipers, including Ukrainian and Russian women in their midst. The name "White Tights" originates from the white-coloured winter sports attire these snipers were wearing and was first coined during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Origins

The phenomenon was first reported during the late 1980s, with female Baltic irregulars being rumoured fighting with the resistance in the Soviet–Afghan War. There also were legends of them participating in the Transnistria War, but Russian author Yulia Shum argues that there is no evidence for this and that these rumors appeared as a product of a propaganda campaign. It appeared first in the English-language media only in conjunction with the post-Soviet First and Second Chechen Wars. Attempts have been made to link the alleged presence of the "White Tights" in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, not only with the special forces and intelligence services of the Baltic states, but also to the positive relations Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev enjoyed with both the Government of Estonia and Lithuanian politician Vytautas Landsbergis. Sergey Yastrzhembsky, the Kremlin Press Secretary during the early phase of the Second Chechen War, argued that female Baltic snipers actually existed based on evidence from GRU military intelligence, who "don't make mistakes". The Government of Estonia has asked for the evidence behind the claims and sent diplomatic notes twice to Russia without receiving an official answer.

Later conflicts

Russo-Georgian War

In November 2008, Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Prosecutor General's Investigative Committee, has suggested that mercenaries from the Baltic states were among those known to have participated on the Georgian side during the Russo-Georgian War, including a female sniper from Latvia. There were reports of snipers from other countries; these reports resurrected the rumours of "White Tights" operating in the Caucasus. A spokesman for the Latvian Ministry of Defence, Airis Rikveilis, rebutted Bastrykin's statements as follows: "We had thought that the ghost of the 'White Tights' had died in the Russian press, but now we see that it still roams Russia."

Russo-Ukrainian War

On 2 May 2014, Sergey Golyandin, a correspondent of the Russian news outlet LifeNews in Ukraine, reported unconfirmed information about Baltic women snipers in action against pro-Russian forces during the siege of Sloviansk:

One minute ago APCs arrived and cannon fired at the BZS checkpoint, situated between Kharkiv and Rostov. Self-defense forces had to be moved out of there. The commander of the checkpoint arrived and said that besides the APCs firing they were also shot by snipers and from what he heard the snipers were women who spoke in some Baltic language. Currently the information has not been verified, these are only words of the BZS checkpoint commander.

In popular culture

White Tights have also appeared in the Russian popular media, such as in Alexander Nevzorov's 1997 film Purgatory [ru]. In the film, two Lithuanian "biathletes" are portrayed as sadistic mercenary snipers fighting for the Chechen rebels. A much more sympathetic character of a Lithuanian female sniper appeared in Andrei Konchalovsky's 2002 film House of Fools, portrayed by Cecilie Thomsen.

See also

• Ghost of Kyiv – Mythical Ukrainian flying ace arising from the Kyiv offensive (2022)
• Colonel Tomb – Mythical flying ace representing the Vietnam People's Air Force, and claimed killed by the Americans
• Lei Feng – Chinese soldier and propaganda icon (1940–1962)
• Lone gunner of Flesquières – Possibly mythical German officer in 1917

References

1. ^ Whitmore, Brian (9 October 1999). "Myth of Women Snipers Returns". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
2. Abdulaeva, Mainat (3 April 2000). Где шьют белые колготки. Мифы второй чеченской. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). No. 13. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
3. Yanchenkov, Vladimir (1 April 2000). "Дикие гусыни" в белых колготках. Trud (in Russian). No. 60. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
4. Maetnaya, Elizaveta (6 April 2001). Волчицы в белых колготках. Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2009 – via Memorial.
5. Rislakki, Jukka (2008). "Prologue". The Case for Latvia. Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi. p. 27. ISBN 978-90-420-2424-3. OCLC 237883206.
6. Журналистское расследование
7. Higgins, Andrew (11 March 1995). "Document check on the borders of madness". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 September 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
8. Faurby, Ib; Magnusson, Märta-Lisa (1999). "The battle(s) of Grozny" (PDF). Baltic Defence Review (2): 77. ISSN 1736-1265. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
9. Совершенно секретно. Другая Эстония (in Russian). Sovershenno Sekretno TV. 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2022 – via YouTube.
10. "Are foreigners fighting there?". The Economist. Vol. 356, no. 8178. 8–14 July 2000. pp. 51–52. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
11. ^ "Russia says U.S. mercenaries, others fought for Georgia". Reuters. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
12. "Украинцы планируют убийства в Грузии?". KM.RU (in Russian). 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 14 August 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
13. "Krievija: Gruzijas pusē karoja NATO algotņi, arī Latvijas snaipere". Delfi (in Latvian). LETA. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
14. ^ Winiarski, Michael (30 November 2008). "Kallblodiga baltiska kvinnor går igen". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
15. Hodge, Nathan (25 November 2008). "The Return of 'White Tights': Mythical Female Snipers Stalk Russians". Wired. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
16. Ozoliņš, Aivars (26 November 2008). "Zeķbikses galvā". Diena (in Latvian). Retrieved 4 December 2008.
17. "Krievija: Gruzijas pusē karoja NATO algotņi, arī Latvijas snaipere". nra.lv (in Latvian). 24 November 2008. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2008. Mēs jau bijām domājuši, ka "balto zeķubikšu rēgs" Krievijas presē ir miris, tomēr tagad mēs redzam, ka tas joprojām klīst par Krieviju
18. #Славянск #Sloviansk #Славянска #Славянске 02/05/14 ("LifeNews"). 2 May 2014 – via YouTube.
19. Konyakhov, Sergey (4 April 1998). Пекло "Чистилища". Molodezh Estonii (in Russian). p. 7. Retrieved 7 December 2008. Это как бы и не чеченцы: хладнокровно за доллары убивают биатлонистки-снайперши из Литвы - такая "у белых колготок" работа, отрезают головы пленным боевики из Афганистана - дикий народ, в отряде - непонятно откуда взявшееся черномазое отребье - наемники выглядят просто недоумками.

• Female military personnel
• Fictional mercenaries
• Foreign volunteers in Chechnya
• Military snipers
• Propaganda legends
• Russo-Georgian War
• Soviet–Afghan War
• Urban legends
• War in Donbas
• Women in the Chechen wars