Telnyashka
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A telnyashka is a blue and white striped, sleeveless or not, undershirt worn by sailors of the Russian Navy, Russian Paratroopers and 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.
Telnyashkas are also available to the civilian customers and may come in a variety of knittings. Single thread knitting is the standard military-issue variant, but double and quadruple knittings for increased warmth can be produced. A quadruple telnyashka is enough to keep a person warm with nothing else on even at 5°C. Which is not surprising, as it was originally developed for military divers to be worn under a dry suit.
Telnyashkas are also widely produced in red and white as well as black and white colors, the red variant being the standard for RADON - one of Russia's numerous special law enforcement units.
[edit] Sources
Zaitsev, Vassili. "Notes of a Sniper." Trans. David Givens, Peter Kornakov, Konstantin Kornakov. Ed. Neil Orkent. Los Angeles: 2826 Press Inc., 2003.
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