Current:Home > MyRussia marks 80 years since breaking the Nazi siege of Leningrad -MarketPoint
Russia marks 80 years since breaking the Nazi siege of Leningrad
View
Date:2025-04-15 03:11:49
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — The Russian city of St. Petersburg on Saturday marked the 80th anniversary of the end of a devastating World War II siege by Nazi forces with a series of memorial events attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and close allies.
The Kremlin leader laid flowers at a monument to fallen Soviet defenders of the city, then called Leningrad, on the banks of the Neva River, and then at Piskarevskoye Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of siege victims are buried.
On Saturday afternoon, Putin was joined by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Gatchina, a town outside St. Petersburg that once housed camps for Soviet prisoners of war, for the unveiling of a statue commemorating civilians killed during the Nazi onslaught.
The Red Army broke the nearly two-and-a-half year blockade on Jan. 19, 1943, after fierce fighting. Estimates of the death toll vary, but historians agree that more than 1 million Leningrad residents perished from hunger, or air and artillery bombardments, during the siege.
Putin was born and raised in Leningrad, and his World War II veteran father suffered wounds while fighting for the city.
Blockade survivor Irina Zimneva, 85, told The Associated Press that she’s still haunted by memories of the tiny food rations distributed to residents during the deadly winter of 1941-1942. Each of her family members received 125 grams of bread a day, and Zimneva’s mother pleaded with her to be patient as she begged for more.
Zimneva said that her mother’s love helped her through those dark days.
“I don’t know what other way (I would have survived),” she told the AP.
When Nazi soldiers encircled Leningrad on Sept. 8, 1941, Zimneva had more than 40 relatives in the city, she said. Only 13 of them lived to see the breaking of the siege.
Before the anniversary commemorations, an open-air exhibition was set up in central St. Petersburg to remind residents of some of most harrowing moments in the city’s history.
The Street of Life display shows a typical blockade-era apartment, with a stove in the center of a room, windows covered by blankets to save heat and the leftovers of furniture used for kindling. Visitors can also look inside a classroom from that time, and see replicas of trams and ambulances from the early 1940s.
For older residents, these are poignant reminders of a time when normal life had been suspended, with heavy bombardment largely destroying the city’s public transit network, while death and disease spread through its streets.
“If you touch the history, you feel that pain and horror that were happening here 80 years ago. How did people manage to survive? It’s mind-boggling,” Yelena Domanova, a visitor to the exhibition, told the AP.
World War II, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million people, is a linchpin of Russia’s national identity. In today’s Russia, officials bristle at any questioning of the USSR’s role, particularly in the later stages of the war and its aftermath, when the Red Army took control of vast swathes of Eastern and Central Europe.
Moscow has also repeatedly sought to make a link between Nazism and Ukraine, particularly those who have led the country since a pro-Russia leadership was toppled in 2014. The Kremlin cited the need to “de-Nazify” its southern neighbor as a justification for sending in troops in February 2022, even though Ukraine has a democratically elected Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Trump lists his grievances in a Wisconsin speech intended to link Harris to illegal immigration
- Phillies become the hunted in MLB playoffs as NL East champs: 'We're ready for it'
- Georgia power outage map: Thousands still without power days after Helene
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- 'Never gotten a response like this': Denial of Boar's Head listeria records raises questions
- College Football Misery Index: Ole Miss falls flat despite spending big
- In the Fight to Decide the Fate of US Steel, Climate and Public Health Take a Backseat to Politics
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- College football Week 5 grades: Ole Miss RB doubles as thespian; cheerleader's ninja move
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Ohio family says they plan to sue nursing home after matriarch's death ruled a homicide
- College Football Misery Index: Ole Miss falls flat despite spending big
- Powerball winning numbers for September 28: Jackpot at $258 million
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Calls to cops show specialized schools in Michigan are failing students, critics say
- 6 Things Kathryn Hahn Can't Live Without
- Ohio Senate Candidates Downplay Climate Action in Closely Contested Race
Recommendation
Intellectuals vs. The Internet
Goldie Hawn Reveals NSFW Secret to Long-Lasting Relationship With Kurt Russell
In the Fight to Decide the Fate of US Steel, Climate and Public Health Take a Backseat to Politics
Supplies are rushed to North Carolina communities left isolated after Helene
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
MLB playoff field almost set as Mets and Braves will determine two NL wild-card spots
Rachel Zoe Shares Update on Her Kids Amid Divorce From Husband Rodger Berman
Jordan Love injury update: Packers will start veteran quarterback in Week 4 vs. Vikings