65th Anniversary Of Siege

Next Tuesday, St Petersburg will be celebrating the end of one of the most atrocious Nazi blockades, which lasted for 900 days. “This is a tragic and yet heroic page in our history" St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said to The Moscow News. "The defenders and residents of the city underwent unthinkable trials - starvation, bitter cold, bombardments. Our city lived on, fought and worked." The event, know as the Siege of Leningrad, lasted from September 1941 to January 1944. 3 years after the blockade began, food and military equipment were delivered to Leningrad (now St Petersburg) through Lake Ladoga and in 1944 the Siege was broken. During the tragic period, aroung 800,000 people died (200,000 of them of cold and hunger). The Siege survivors, as well as veterans and city officials are said to be attending ceremonies of wreath-lying, held at St. Petersburg’s memorial cemeteries.

St Petersburg born President Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently visiting the city, attended a ceremony at the Piskaryovskoy Memorial Cemetery, where over 500,000 victims of the siege are resting.