WWII hero Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká dies at 90

WWII veteran and hero Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká died on Monday at the age of 90, the Czechoslovak Community of Legionnaires as announced. A Czech from the Ukrainian region of Volhynia, Ljalková-Lastovecká was the first Czechoslovak woman to be put into battle in the war. She served as a sniper during the Battle of Sokolovo, where she neutralised four Nazi machine gunners and gained fame in the Soviet and Anglo-American press. For that deed and thirty other successful kills she was awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross and the Soviet Order of the Red Star. Last year she received the highest distinction of the Czech Republic, the Order of the White Lion, from President Václav Klaus.