Place of heroism: Putin paid tribute to the defenders of Leningrad
St. Petersburg celebrated the 82nd anniversary of the liberation of the city from the Nazi blockade - on January 27, 1944, the encirclement ring was finally lifted. To pay tribute to the heroism and perseverance of the Leningraders, Vladimir Putin also came to his hometown on this day. The president knows the pain and tragedy of the blockade firsthand: his father fought on Nevsky Prospekt, and his brother Viktor died in 1942. The Head of State laid wreaths and flowers at the Milestone Stone and the Mother Motherland monument at Piskarevskoye Cemetery, the largest mass grave site of the Second World War.
"We know the value of every day"
St. Petersburg on January 27 remembers one of the hardest dates in the history of the Great Victory, which, according to various estimates, cost the lives of a million people. The 82nd anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade is celebrated by the whole city. It began on September 8, 1941 and lasted for 872 days. The blockade was broken on January 18, 1943, but the Leningraders still had a whole year left before it was completely lifted. On January 27, 1944, residents heard a message on the radio: "Citizens of Leningrad! Brave and persistent Leningraders! Together with the troops of the Leningrad Front, you defended our hometown. With your heroic work and steely endurance, overcoming all the difficulties and torments of the blockade, you forged the weapon of victory over the enemy, giving all your strength to the cause of victory."
— Suddenly, they started shooting from all over, from all the ships, such big loud volleys. We didn't even understand what it was. Then someone shouted on the stairs: "Breaking the blockade! Breaking the blockade!" We believed to the end that our army would defeat fascism. When we rejoiced and rejoiced on the Neva embankment, everyone shouted: "We are alive, we will be alive, we will live, we will definitely live," recalls Tatiana Kuzmina from St. Petersburg.
Flower-laying ceremony at the monument "Mother Motherland" at Piskarevskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg
Currently, about 37,000 "children of the blockade" live in St. Petersburg - these are Leningraders who have lived at least one day in the conditions of that horror. Therefore, for many Petersburgers today, the blockade is a personal tragedy that they know about from their grandparents, parents, or even experienced themselves.
The city traditionally prepares for the event responsibly. For example, they run marathons along the Road of Life — this is the only way food was delivered, it was laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga. On the same day, archival photographs depicting the faces of Leningrad residents who saw the Leningrad Victory salute "come to life" on the facades of some buildings.
— I am a native of Leningrad and St. Petersburg. And I know that we have a special memory, the Leningrad gene. And it's not in words, it's in deeds: in relation to bread, to life, to the city and people. We know the value of every day and we will never throw away a single bread crumb, because we remember the price it came at and what it meant in those days. Leningrad was not surrendered. He was protected and defended by ordinary people who did the impossible. Their feat is not the past, but a part of ourselves. And we pass this memory on to our children and grandchildren as truth, as character, and as a duty," Dmitry Pavlov, a member of the St. Petersburg parliament, told Izvestia.
Putin visits Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery
On January 27, Vladimir Putin also visited his hometown: the head of state does not miss this important day for Petersburgers. For the head of state, as for many residents, the incident was a personal tragedy. His father— Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, fought on Nevsky Prospekt. This is a place associated with one of the most tragic and heroic pages in the history of the Leningrad Battle. Here, on the night of September 20, 1941, a battalion of the 115th Infantry Division on fishing boats and makeshift rafts managed to secretly cross to the left bank of the Neva River and with a surprise attack dislodge the Germans from their forward positions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's car before the flower-laying ceremony at the Rubezhny Kamen memorial on Nevsky Prospekt in Kirovsk, Leningrad Region
At that time, Vladimir Spiridonovich was seriously wounded, but he was saved by a comrade who transported Putin Sr. to the hospital on the right bank of the river under fire - the head of state personally told about this story. Now there is a "Milestone Stone" here — the president came here on January 27 to lay flowers. The monument was unveiled on September 12, 1972 in memory of more than 60,000 heroes who gave their lives to save the city on the Neva River.
Next, the head of state visited the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, the largest mass grave of the Second World War period. Grave graves On the way to the monument "Mother Motherland" on the alley, the head of state always stops at one of the mass graves and lays roses there: the president's brother Victor, who died in besieged Leningrad in 1942, rests in this grave. In total, 420 thousand residents of Leningrad, who died of hunger, cold, disease, bombing and shelling, as well as 70 thousand soldiers, defenders of Leningrad, are buried in the cemetery.
Despite the cold and damp, the head of state went on to the memorial and, kneeling, laid a wreath in memory of the victims. For the first time, the President pinned a "blockade ribbon" on his coat, which is also called the Leningrad Victory ribbon. It is olive and green in color, repeats the block of the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad", an award that forever linked the feat with history. Olive is a triumph of Victory, green is a life that has made its way through pain and destruction.
Wreaths in memory of the Leningraders who died from the German blockade were sent not only by regions and domestic organizations, but also by representatives of many countries. Among them are Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Republika Srpska (an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina), Thailand and Sri Lanka.
St. Petersburg is also supported on the international stage on this difficult day: in Thailand, a memorial event "Blockade Bread" was held in Russian restaurants in Pattaya. On the occasion of the anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade, guests are treated to rye bread and told what the daily norm was for the besiegers. Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan also commemorated the residents and defenders of Leningrad. A requiem rally in honor of the dead of the blockade, thematic actions and other commemorative events were held in the countries.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
