Haritina Korotkevich

Haritina Evstafievna Korotkevich (, also romanised as Charitina Korotkiewicz and Haritena Korotkiewich; née Verkhozina; ) was a Russian soldier who served in the Imperial Russian Army during the Russo-Japanese War. Volunteering to serve disguised as a man under the pseudonym Khariton Korotkevich , she soon gained a reputation as a fearless leader as a woman in her own right. She was killed by shellfire on the front line during the Siege of Port Arthur.

Early life Haritina Verkhozina was born of humble origins in the village of Nesterevaya in the Tobolsk Governorate, the daughter of peasants. She lost her mother at the age of six and, at the age of ten, left home to work, finding employment as a dishwasher at Vargashi station. It was there that she met Jakoff Korotkevich , with whom she fell in love and soon after married.

When her husband was called up at the start of the Russo-Japanese War, she initially remained at home, but soon afterwards decided to travel to Port Arthur to be with her husband, despite the perils that the journey held. She disguised herself as a man and worked as a brakeman on the Trans-Siberian Railway, travelling across the Chinese Eastern Railway to Harbin. Arriving in Dalian Bay, she met some soldiers attached to the same company as her husband and changed to women's clothes. Aiming to continue her journey, she was thwarted by the police who threatened to return her to Harbin. However, when she related her story with the officer responsible, he became sympathetic and together they hatched a plan for her to get to the front lines and be with her husband: she would enlist.

Korotkevich was buried in a mass grave alongside eight others who died at the same time. On her grave was placed a wooden cross and the inscription, "Private Haritina Korotkevich, the bravest of Russian women, who fell fighting for her Czar and her country." She was awarded the Cross of St. George, one of four women to be awarded the honour during the war and the only one posthumously.