A 21-year Ukrainian girl who was a teenage sniper has won a beauty pageant. Olga Shishkina used to be a sniper in the conflict in eastern Ukraine before making her way to the beauty contest. She was initially suspected of being a Ukranian spy, but became one of the rebels. Olga once even took down her target from almost a kilometre away. She was deployed on the front line during the civil war.

Talking about her past, Daily Mail quoted Olga as saying, "I didn't kill people, it is not correct to word it this way. For us, snipers, they are not people. They are targets. I shoot living targets and quite often, these are enemies. I don't think about those who I shoot. I don't think that they might have children, a mother, family. This is war. This way it is easier for me to live. I am not ashamed of myself and I don't feel sorry for them. I didn't kill civilians." Miss World 2018 Winner: Vanessa Ponce de Leon from Mexico is Crowned as Successor of Manushi Chhillar in the 68th Edition of the Beauty Pageant.

Check out her pictures below:

She was fighting for the so-called People's Republic of Donetsk, a breakaway region of Ukraine supported. She was transferred to a unit in Donetsk city two years ago. It was only recently she entered a beauty pageant called 'Lady of the Republic'. She said, "I passed the castings. I became more confident, met many people and realised that there is life apart from the army."

Watch Olga Shishkina's transformation journey here:

At the beauty pageant, she was bestowed with the title Lady Transformation for the drastic change in her life. She won an expensive laptop as prize with which she started a cafe in Donetsk. She also has marriage plans for the future. Talking about her life Olga said that she was among the 14 children of her mother who all ended up in an orphanage. While her father took her with him at the age of five, she had to return there after her father's death.

She entered the forces as her orphanage was within the target zone during the fight in 2014. She was dismissed when she tried to volunteer at 17 but later her city was taken by the Ukrainian forces. She returned to them at 18 where they suspected of being a Ukranian spy. She said, "I was kept under surveillance for a month. It was all civilised and now I understand that their actions were justified." Olga was later given training and deployed at the frontline.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 13, 2018 01:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).