To the road of life: Putin visited St. Petersburg on the eve of the anniversary of lifting the blockade

Vladimir Putin arrived in St. Petersburg on the eve of the 82nd anniversary of the complete lifting of the Nazi blockade from the city. On January 26, the head of state met with the leadership of the city and the region to personally learn about the preparations for this date and the situation of veterans of the blockade - 37 thousand of them now live in the city. On the same day, the head of state met with the King of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim. The Nicholas II Library, the unique Peacock clock and the Mari dagger-chris impressed the monarch, who visited the Hermitage in the company of Vladimir Putin. The heads of state could discuss trade prospects, humanitarian issues and a plan to launch direct flights from Russia to Malaysia face-to-face, experts believe.

St. Petersburg will honor the memory of the victims of the blockade

Vladimir Putin arrived in St. Petersburg on the eve of an important date in the history of the Great Patriotic War - January 27 will mark the 82nd anniversary of the complete lifting of the siege of Leningrad. The Head of State met with the governors of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Alexander Beglov and Alexander Drozdenko, to discuss not only social issues, but also how the region is preparing to pay tribute to this tragic page of history.

Currently, 44.9 thousand veterans live in St. Petersburg, among whom about 37.1 thousand have been awarded the badge "Resident of besieged Leningrad". About 3 thousand more are home front workers and minor concentration camp prisoners.

— On your instructions, first of all, the restrictions on obtaining the "Resident of besieged Leningrad" badge have been lifted. The relevant law has been signed, and now, even if someone has lived in besieged Leningrad for even one day, they receive all the appropriate benefits," Alexander Beglov told the president.

In commemoration of the 82nd anniversary of the complete lifting of the blockade, on the evening of January 26, light projections with archival photographs of residents of the besieged city were turned on in the city. They can be seen on Moskovsky, Kondratievsky, Kamennoostrovsky, Bolshoy, Novgorodsky avenues, on Shpalernaya Street.

A traditional marathon along the "Road of Life" took place in the Leningrad Region: it begins on the shore of Lake Ladoga, and the finish line is located at the Flower of Life monument on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Despite the cold, more than 7 thousand people took part in the race.

— The youngest is 5 years old, the oldest is 91 years old. The distances were different — 3, 5, 10 and 42 km. People came with flowers, with a good mood, even with tools. Someone with a bayan, someone with a guitar. The project that you approved, we started implementing it this year. This is a complete reconstruction of the "Road of Life". It was made by students, and they won the competition. I think we will complete this renovation and reconstruction by 2027," said Alexander Drozdenko.

At meetings with the governors, Vladimir Putin also discussed the internal agenda — the development of the city and the region. According to Alexander Beglov, production is growing in St. Petersburg, including in the manufacturing and defense industries. Eleven new enterprises are planned to be launched in the city in 2027. In addition, St. Petersburg plans to reach the level of city budget revenues of 2 trillion rubles by 2030.

Vladimir Putin drew attention to the high rates of industrial development and investment in the Leningrad region. He also noted that the authorities of St. Petersburg are able to solve the problem of developing secondary vocational education, and the leadership of the region is doing an excellent job of supporting the rehabilitation of ITS participants.

Putin's meeting with the King of Malaysia

The meeting with the regional leaders was not the only part of Vladimir Putin's visit to the northern capital on January 26. At the Hermitage Museum, he met with the supreme Ruler of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail. It is interesting that the Hermitage has recently become a regular place for international meetings. At the end of December, the Russian president held a traditional informal summit of CIS leaders here.

Now it was decided to impress the Malaysian monarch with the scale of the Winter Palace. The last time he met with Vladimir Putin was last August in Moscow during a state visit. Now he has come to Russia on a private visit. As Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, noted, Vladimir Putin, as a cordial host, is always happy to personally introduce distinguished guests to the Hermitage collection.

The program includes a short tour of the museum, the main treasures of which were described by its director Mikhail Piotrovsky. In total, the Hermitage preserves more than 3 million cultural monuments of different eras and peoples: from ancient times to the present day. One of the most famous exhibits of the collection, which always arouses special interest among visitors, the Peacock clock, was brought especially for the Malaysian king. They are made of gilded bronze and silver by the English jeweler and mechanic James Cox at the end of the XVIII century. The watches were ordered for Catherine II, but they were brought to Russia in disassembled form. They were put into action by the Russian mechanic Ivan Kulibin. The exhibit also survived the years of the Great Patriotic War: The Peacock was being dismantled to be evacuated along with other works of art.

The exhibit is now under the strict supervision of Mikhail Guryev, the Hermitage's chief watchmaker. Usually, 18th-century clocks "sing" for guests only once a week on Fridays, but for distinguished guests they can also be started during "after-hours" hours. Guryev, who has devoted decades to this work, calmly waited for the heads of state to enter the hall to show all the magic of the historical clock. It would seem to be an ordinary day for him. Despite the fact that the "keeper of the clock" communicated with journalists with restraint and few words, he noted that he had seen "all the presidents already, it seems." For example, at the end of December, he launched this mechanism for eight leaders of the CIS countries — the singing of the peacock caused them considerable emotions at that time.

The Russian leader told the King of Malaysia in detail about the Jordanian Staircase of the Winter Palace, drawing the guest's attention to the painting of its arches. The guest also visited the library of Nicholas II at the Hermitage. The final chord of the tour was a collection of Malay objects. Among the significant exhibits of Southeast Asian art is the chris dagger with a sheath from the Tsarskoye Selo arsenal, made in the 17th - early 18th century. The King of Malaysia was very interested in the subject and said that a real Malay kris should have at least 12 bends.

As such, there were no negotiations: the leaders talked one-on-one, looking around the tour, and also at the table in the format of a working breakfast in the Arap hall. During the Romanov dynasty, family dinners were held here in a narrow circle, as well as with invited guests. It is not known what exactly the heads of state talked about, but experts believe that the leaders decided to "check the clock" after the August state visit of the king to Moscow. This dynamic shows the evolution from the initial stage of establishing a dialogue to more specific discussions on the further development of bilateral relations.

— Relations are developing quite dynamically and actively, and this dynamic extends to various industries and spheres: politics, economics, education, industry and agriculture, the halal industry, tourism. We can say that Russian-Malaysian relations are on the rise today," Kira Tabunova, an expert at the MGIMO ASEAN Center, told Izvestia.

It is possible that the parties could discuss the prospects of trade between the Russian Federation and Malaysia, as well as issues of humanitarian cooperation. In addition, a plan to launch direct flights from Russia to Malaysia to Langkawi Island has long been discussed, which could also be the topic of the meeting.