Meet Maria Limanskaya, a.k.a. the ‘Victory traffic controller’ and the ‘Brandenburg Madonna’

‘Victory traffic controller’ a.k.a. ‘Brandenburg Madonna’

Evgeny Khaldei/MAMM/MDF

This the whole world saw the photo, which went on to become one of the symbols of victory over the Nazis. After 40 years, the photographer and his model met again and Evgeny Khaldey took another photo of the woman, this time with all her medals.

Maria Limanskaya in 1984. Photo taken by the same photographer

Evgeny Khaldei/MAMM/MDF

Limanskaya went through the entire war sewing clothes and then went on to train as an traffic controller. She was wounded several times and was on the brink of death, even once falling under the ice.

Maria Limanskaya in 2019

Sergei Pyatakov/Sputnik

The famous "regulator" today lives in Saratov Region with her daughter. On April 12, Maria will turn 100 years old!

A monument to the ‘Victory traffic controller’ in the Saratov Region

Press service of the Governor of the Saratov Region

Dear readers,

Our website and social media accounts are under threat of being restricted or banned, due to the current circumstances. So, to keep up with our latest content, simply do the following:

• Subscribe to our Telegram channel
• Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter
• Enable push notifications on our website
• Install a VPN service on your computer and/or phone to have access to our website, even if it is blocked in your country

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.