Bit’ vraga po-snaiperski, po-gvardeiski! [Hit the Enemy the Guard’s Way, the Sniper’s Way!], a poster by Pyotr Maltsev (1907-1993, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union) and Aleksandr Merkulov (1909-1973, possibly 1901-1973, Meritorious Artist of the Russian Federation). Published by Voyenmorizdat for the Main Political Directorate of the Red Fleet Commissariate, Moscow, 1942, 83 x 59.5 cm.

.The slogan could be translated as Hit the Enemy the Way the Best Do, With Accuracy and Precision. The gvardeysky (guard) honorary title was bestowed on Red Army and Red Fleet units for exceptional valor and great successes.

The artists’ involvement with posters is largely limited to the war period, when they were attached to the Northern Fleet. After the war, Maltsev became a highly successful monumentalist painter, a master of gigantic dioramic installations reproducing historic battle scenes. Merkulov, an expedition artist on several pre-war Soviet Arctic expeditions, stayed in the Soviet North. He primarly specialized in maritime paintings.