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Leningrad's 900-Day Blockade: Remembering the Bloodiest Chapter in Human History

10:52 GMT, 27 January 2024
January 27 marks the 80th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) from the Nazi siege. The blockade began on September 8, 1941, and lasted almost three years.
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In the midst of the fascist siege, the city's industries continued to operate, and the people of Leningrad toiled in defense factories and served in divisions of the People's Militia. Over 2.5 million residents were trapped in the besieged city, including 400,000 children. According to various estimates, between 600,000 and one million citizens died during the blockade, most of them from starvation.
The blockade was broken in January 1943 during Operation "Iskra". As a result of intense fighting, an 11-kilometer-wide corridor was created. A 33-kilometer "Road of Life" was built along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, and a crossing over the Neva River was constructed in just 18 days.
In February 1943, trains carrying food, raw materials, and ammunition finally reached Leningrad. The blockade was officially lifted on January 27, 1944, and to commemorate this historic event, a 24-gun salute echoed through the city, marking the end of the fascist attack.
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State Memorial Museum of Defense and Siege of Leningrad, Saint Petersburg.

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Deror_avi / Siege of Leningrad
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A destroyed apartment house on Ligovsky Prospekt after the bombing of Leningrad.

© Sputnik / Gregory Chertov
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The Siege of Leningrad. A battery of anti-aircraft guns at St. Isaac's Cathedral fires to repel a night raid by German aircraft.

© Sputnik / Boris Kudoyarov
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Soldiers of Colonel Andrei Bondarev's 168th Rifle Division during the battle on the Leningrad Front. The photo is taken in the Nevsky Patch, 1941, during the Battle for Leningrad.

© Sputnik / Vsevolod Tarasevich
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Defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). Blimps on the streets of the city, October 1941.

© Sputnik / Anatoliy Garanin
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A lesson on the doorstep of the school destroyed by German shelling during the Siege of Leningrad.

© Sputnik / Boris Kudoyarov
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Local anti-aircraft defense fighters stand guard on the roof of the Academy of Sciences building.

© Sputnik / Gregory
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Residents of the besieged Leningrad receive hot water in the basement of the house manager's office.

© Sputnik / David Trahtenberg
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A view of Nevsky Prospekt in Leningrad during the siege.

© Sputnik / Gregory
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Reproduction of the painting "Blockade Leningrad" by the artist Ilya Glazunov.

© Sputnik / RIA Novosti
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The streets of Leningrad after a Nazi air raid. Residents of the besieged city move a tram car from the facade of the destroyed house.

© Sputnik / Boris Kudoyarov
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People harvest cabbage in the vegetable garden near the Saint Isaac's Cathedral.

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Deror_avi / Siege of Leningrad
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Children who suffered from Nazi shelling and bombardment in a Leningrad hospital during the Siege of Leningrad (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944).

© Sputnik / Boris Kudoyarov
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Exercises of the women's fire brigade on the embankment of the Griboyedov Channel.

© Photo : Public domain/Sergey Strunnikov
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A victim of artillery shelling during the Siege of Leningrad.

© Sputnik / Israel
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The air bridge of besieged Leningrad. A Soviet I-16 fighter aircraft.

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Deror_avi / Siege of Leningrad
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Evacuation of children from besieged Leningrad.

© Sputnik / Boris Losin
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Preparing firewood in besieged Leningrad, the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

© Sputnik / Anatoliy Garanin
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Anna Yushkevich, a nurse at the Leningrad Naval Hospital, feeds a wounded Red Navy sailor from the "V.A. Ukhov" patrol ship.

© Photo : Public domain/Sergey Strunnikov
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Leningrad cheers. The siege is lifted. A sign on the wall reads: "Citizens! This part of the street is most dangerous during the artillery barrage."

© Photo : Public domain/Lvova
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The blockade ring of Leningrad was breached on January 18, 1943. The meeting of the armies of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts after the breakthrough, the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

© Sputnik / Dmitriy Kozlov
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