 For her actions in the battle for the village of Kozyi Gory (Smolensk Oblast), Shanina was awarded her first military decoration, the Order of Glory 3rd Class, on 18 April 1944.She became the first servicewoman of the 3rd Belorussian Front to receive that order.According to the report of Major Degtyarev (the commander of the 1138th Rifle Regiment), she received the award for the corresponding commendation list, between 6 and 11 April Shanina killed 13 enemy soldiers while subjected to artillery and machine gun fire.