A telnyashka (ru. Тельняшка) is a ark blue blue and white striped, sleeveless or not, undershirt worn by sailors of the Russian Navy, the Soviet and Russian Airborne Forces (the VDV) and the Russian Naval Infantry. It is a symbol of great pride for its bearers, perhaps best exemplified by the famed Soviet sniper Vassili Zaitsev. Zaitsev was a sailor in the Soviet Pacific Fleet who volunteered for army duty in the Battle of Stalingrad, but despite transfer to the army he refused to give up his Navy telnyashka because of the pride it engendered. General Margelov who was later to modernise the Soviet airborne forces had served with a Naval Infantry unit in the Great Patriotic War and procured telnyashkas for the airborne forces as a mark of their elite status.