[3][4] At that time the Soviet Stavka ("high command") increasingly lacked trained reserves to reinforce the entire 2,000-kilometre (1,200 mi) front, and as a result began to conscript underage boys and girls.

[4][7] During the war, Limanskaya regulated the movement of troops across the Don under enemy fire, and participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and the liberation of Belarus and Poland.

[8] After the Battle of Berlin ended in early May 1945, Limanskaya was assigned to direct traffic at the Brandenburg Gate during the Potsdam Conference in late July.

Her picture was widely published in newspapers and magazines worldwide and she quickly became an iconic image of the victory over Germany.

[1] Limanskaya furthermore had a brief conversation with British prime minister Winston Churchill as his entourage was passing by the gate on their way to Potsdam.