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“The Powerful Wings of Our Young Komsomol” (1980s) by Vladimir Miroshnikov captures the energy and idealism that Soviet youth were expected to embody. Created for Agitplakat Don, this oil-on-card sketch is one of the few surviving drafts from a period when most preparatory works were destroyed after printing.
Two young people face each other across the centre: one wears a worker’s helmet, the other a flight cap. Their faces are stylised, not portraits but idealised versions of Soviet youth.
Around the edges, there are outlines of cranes, cogs and wheat. These graphic elements create a visual rhythm, uniting industry, farming, and infrastructure into one forward-driving Soviet machine.
Between the two figures stretches an orange field with the text in white: “You follow the charter and stand in the front ranks. Like an eagle soaring toward the sun, your competition lifts the powerful wings of your young Komsomol.” The verse elevates duty into vision. Labour isn’t just expected—it’s celebrated as something both heroic and inevitable.
The colour palette is limited but forceful: deep reds, oranges, and browns, punctuated with white for emphasis. The style is unmistakably late Soviet, with traces of Constructivist influence—flattened space, sharp contrast, geometric rhythm.
Miroshnikov lived and worked in Rostov-on-Don. He was part of the Union of Artists of the USSR and collaborated frequently with Agitplakat Don on posters supporting state campaigns, from anti-alcohol drives to industrial themes.
