Destroy the Enemy's Tanks Like the Brave Rifleman Nikita Likhanov!, 1942 Soviet Union poster: An instructional sheet shows

Destroy the Enemy's Tanks Like the Brave Rifleman Nikita Likhanov! (Russian War Poster [2])

An instructional sheet shows a numbered diagram of an anti-tank rifle, bolt parts, hand positions for dismantling, and a colour scene of two helmeted soldiers firing on tanks, with a decorated rifleman's account of a battle. The tell is the named order-bearer Nikita Likhanov and a quoted order of Stalin used as the warrant for the instruction. Most of the sheet is technical, not persuasive.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Testimonial

Date: 1942
Period: Second World War
Made by: State publishing house 'Iskusstvo' (Moscow-Leningrad), 1942; artists credited in small print
Region: Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Country: Soviet Union
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Soviet Union
Leader: Joseph Stalin
Audience: Own forces
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Theme: War and the military
Event: World War II
Regime: Soviet Union under Stalin
Leader: Joseph Stalin
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: Public domain in the US (Soviet work first published before 27 May 1973)
State publishing house Iskusstvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1942, National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-885.

Text on the object

Original (Russian) · read from the image, not independently checked

УНИЧТОЖАЙ ТАНКИ ВРАГА, КАК ОТВАЖНЫЙ СТРЕЛОК НИКИТА ЛИХАНОВ!

[Section headings and captions:] ПОМНИ: / ОРУЖИЕ — ТВОЙ ЛУЧШИЙ, НАДЕЖНЕЙШИЙ ДРУГ В БОЮ! / НАШЕ ПРОТИВОТАНКОВОЕ РУЖЬЕ СИЛЬНЕЕ ВРАЖЕСКОГО ТАНКА! / РАСЧЕТ ПРОТИВОТАНКОВОГО РУЖЬЯ НА ОГНЕВОЙ ПОЗИЦИИ. / ТАНКИ ВРАГА НЕ ПРОЙДУТ! / ОСНОВНЫЕ ЧАСТИ ПТР: / СОДЕРЖИ РУЖЬЕ В ЧИСТОТЕ! БЕРЕГИ ЕГО, КАК ЗЕНИЦУ ОКА!

[imprint:] Государственное издательство «ИСКУССТВО» Москва 1942 Ленинград

[Partial transcription: small-print body text not transcribed.]

[Translation: Destroy the enemy's tanks like the brave rifleman Nikita Likhanov! Remember: ... Weapon is your best, most reliable friend in battle! Our anti-tank rifle is stronger than the enemy tank! Anti-tank rifle crew in a firing position. The enemy's tanks shall not pass! Main parts of the rifle: ... Keep the rifle clean! Guard it like the apple of your eye!]