January 18 is the day of breaking the siege of Leningrad. Breaking the blockade of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. Chronology of Operation Iskra

At the end of 1942, the situation near Leningrad was difficult: there was no land connection between the city and the “Mainland”, the troops of the Leningrad Front, as well as the Baltic Fleet, were isolated. During the forty-second year, our Armed Forces twice attempted to break the blockade. However, the Lyuban and Sinyavinsk operations were not successful. As before, units of the German 18th Army occupied the area between the southern coast of Ladoga and the village of Mga (here the distance between the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts was the shortest - only 12-16 kilometers).

In connection with these circumstances, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to develop a plan for a new operation, which was called “Iskra”. The troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were supposed to defeat the enemy group in the area of ​​Lipka, Gaitolovo, Moskovskaya Dubrovka, Shlisselburg and thus break the siege of the city on the Neva, reaching the line Moika River - Mikhailovsky - Tortolovo. The operation was planned to be completed at the end of January forty-three. The operation took almost a month to prepare. The preparation was comprehensive. The command and headquarters of the two fronts coordinated their plans, established demarcation lines and worked out interactions.

Siege of Leningrad Operation Iskra

The strike groups of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts (the main participants in the operation) were reinforced with artillery, tank and engineering formations. IN total they numbered 302,800 soldiers, nearly 5,000 guns and mortars, more than 600 tanks, and 809 aircraft. The divisions of the enemy 18th Army, defending the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino salient, had manpower numbering 60,000 soldiers and officers, as well as 700 guns and mortars, about 50 tanks and self-propelled artillery units.

Since most of the villages in the suburbs of Leningrad were strongholds of the enemy, and the forward and position in the depths of the defense were fenced off with minefields, barbed wire and fortified with bunkers, the German command expected to hold its positions, despite the significant superiority of our army. But the enemy miscalculated.

From attack to attack

And so on January 12, 1943, at 9:30 am, the forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, with a force of more than four and a half thousand guns and mortars, struck enemy positions. On the Leningrad Front, artillery preparation lasted 2 hours 20 minutes, on the Volkhov Front - 1 hour 45 minutes. And now rifle chains of divisions of the first echelon of the Leningrad Front entered the Neva ice.

136th Infantry Division under the command of Major General N.P. Simonyaka achieved the greatest success on the first day of the battle. It was near the village of Maryino. Its fighters broke through the front line of the enemy’s defenses and by the end of the first day of fighting advanced a distance of three to four kilometers. Luck also accompanied the 268th Infantry Division, which advanced 3 kilometers. In the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, the greatest successes on the first day were achieved by units of the 327th Infantry Division of Colonel N.A. Polyakova. By the end of the first day of the offensive, the troops of the 2nd Shock Army advanced 3 kilometers.

However, the 45th Guards Division came under heavy enemy fire and managed to advance only 500-600 meters. The 86th Infantry Division, operating on the left flank of the army, crossed the Neva in the Maryino-Shlisselburg section. But it was not the suppressed enemy firing points in the basements of buildings and on the piers that forced our soldiers to lie down on the ice of the Neva. On the morning of January 13, the fighting became stubborn and fierce. By the end of the day, the troops of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front almost came close to the line of the meeting with the troops of the Volkhov Front outlined in the battle plan. However, the Volkhovites made virtually no progress during the second day of fighting.

Operation map

On January 14, the commander of the 67th Army, Major General M.P. Dukhanov brought part of the second echelon forces into battle. On the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge, the enemy had strengthened its forces the day before with two infantry divisions, and transferred another division to the Sinyavino area. They offered fierce resistance and often launched counterattacks. It was the third day of the battle, but the enemy still posed a very serious threat on this section of the front. Our troops slowed down their advance. The distance between our and enemy enemy forces was reduced to 4 kilometers. On the fourth and fifth days of the offensive (January 15-16), troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts fought for individual strong points, gradually moving towards each other.

Conducting stubborn battles, the 2nd Shock Army slowly advanced towards the city on the Neva. She gradually expanded the breakthrough. The 12th Ski Brigade advanced along with the forces of the 128th Infantry Division. After a raid across the ice of Ladoga to the rear of the German garrison in the village of Lipka, our soldiers captured this village.

The whole country watched with bated breath the military operations in the area of ​​besieged Leningrad. And here on January 17, on the sixth day of Operation Iskra, fierce fighting broke out again in the direction of the main attack. The German command urgently transferred support to the areas settlements Mga, Kelkolovo, Mustolovo, Sinyavino. Troops of the Volkhov Front captured Worker's settlements No. 4 and 8, Podgornaya station, and came close to Worker's settlements No. 1 and 5. The corridor separating the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts became very narrow. After fierce battles, the 136th Infantry Division on January 18 broke into Workers' Village No. 5, where at noon it linked up with units of the 18th Infantry Division and the 2nd Shock Army. By this time, the advanced units of the 123rd Infantry Brigade of the 67th Army had met with units of the 372nd Division of the 2nd Shock Army on the eastern outskirts of Workers' Village No. 1.

At the end of January 18, the 34th Ski Brigade established contact with the 128th Infantry Division and the 12th Ski Brigade of the 2nd Shock Army. The village of Lipki was finally taken. And this day, January 18, will forever remain in the memory of not only Leningrad residents, but also our entire country. The blockade of Leningrad was broken. A holiday came to the exhausted city. The people, weak and exhausted, rejoiced. Early in the morning of January 19, the city on the Neva was decorated with flags. Rallies were held at which Leningraders heartily thanked their liberators - the soldiers of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. Having gained a foothold on new lines, our troops continued their attack on the Sinyavinsky Heights. Stubborn fighting took place here until the end of January. However, despite reinforcements, it was not possible to break through the enemy’s defenses.

Dear price of victory

The total losses of Soviet troops during Operation Iskra (January 12-30) amounted to 115,082 people (Leningrad Front - 41,264 people, Volkhov Front - 73,818 people). According to German data, in January 1943 the 18th Army lost 22,619 people. During the first half of the month, the total losses of the army amounted to 6,406 people, and in the period from January 16 to 31 - 16,213 people. For the courage and heroism shown in the January battles, about 19,000 Soviet soldiers were awarded orders and medals, 12 were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

Breaking the blockade was a turning pointin the battle for Leningrad

So, the blockade of Leningrad was broken. Despite the fact that the success achieved was modest (the width of the corridor that connected the city with the country was only 8-11 kilometers), the enormous significance of breaking the blockade cannot be overestimated. In just a matter of days, the Polyany-Shdisselburg railway line, a highway and bridges across the Neva were built. And now the first train arrived from the mainland to the Finland Station. Soon, food supply standards established for other industrial centers of the country began to apply in the liberated city.

This is what was said in the Sovinformburo report on breaking the siege of Leningrad:

“Breaking the blockade was a turning point in the battle for Leningrad. Even the theoretical possibility of an assault on Leningrad by German troops was finally removed - the initiative in the North-Western direction finally passed to the Soviet troops. Leningrad region. But, unfortunately, the Soviet troops failed to develop the offensive and defeat the Mginsk-Sinyavin group, as well as to ensure a strong railway connection between Leningrad and the country.

It was possible to completely defeat the Nazi troops south of Leningrad only in January 1944 as a result of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation. And already in June, during another operation - the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation - Finnish troops were defeated in the north of the city. The siege of Leningrad was lifted.

For the Wehrmacht command, the capture of the city on the Neva was not only of great military and strategic importance. In addition to the capture of the entire coast of the Gulf of Finland and the destruction of the Baltic Fleet, far-reaching propaganda goals were also pursued. The fall of the cradle of the Revolution would have caused irreparable moral damage to the entire Soviet people and would have significantly undermined the morale of the armed forces. The Red Army command had an alternative: withdraw the troops and surrender the city without a fight. In this case, the fate of the residents would have been even more tragic. Hitler intended to wipe the city off the face of the earth in the literal sense of the word.

Leningrad was finally surrounded by German and Finnish troops on September 8, 1941. The siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days. In addition to the military formations of the army and navy, more than three million people were under siege - Leningraders and refugees from the Baltic states and neighboring regions. Leningrad lost more than 600 thousand during the siege. civilian population, of which only three percent died from bombing and artillery shelling, the rest died from exhaustion and disease. More than one and a half million people were evacuated.

Attempts to break the blockade in 1942

Even in the most difficult days of the war, attempts were made to break the encirclement. In January 1942, the Soviet army launched an offensive to connect the blockaded city with the “Main Land” near the village of Lyubtsy. The next attempt was made in August - October in the direction of the village of Sinyavino and Mga station. These operations to break the blockade of Leningrad were unsuccessful. Although the Sinyavin offensive failed, this maneuver thwarted the Wehrmacht’s next plans to capture the city.

Strategic prerequisites

The defeat of Hitler's group of troops on the Volga radically changed the balance of strategic forces in favor of the Soviet army. Under the current conditions, the High Command decided to carry out an operation to release the northern capital. The operational event involving the forces of the Leningrad, Volkhov fronts, the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Flotilla received the code name ''Iskra''. The liberation of Leningrad from the blockade, although partial, was made possible thanks to serious miscalculations of the German command. Hitler's headquarters underestimated the importance of accumulating reserves. After fierce fighting in the Moscow direction and the south of the country, two tank divisions and a significant part of the infantry formations were withdrawn from Army Group North to partially compensate for the losses of the central group. By the beginning of 1943, near Leningrad, the invaders did not have large mechanized formations to counter the possible advance of the Soviet army.

Betting Plans

Operation Iskra was conceived in the fall of 1942. At the end of November, the headquarters of the Leningrad Front proposed to Headquarters to prepare a new offensive and break through the enemy ring in two directions: Shlisselburg and Uritsky. The Supreme High Command decided to focus on one, the shortest, in the Sinyavino-Shlisselburg area.

On November 22, the command presented a plan for counter actions of the concentrated forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. The operation was approved, and no more than a month was allotted for preparation. It was very important to carry out the planned offensive in winter time: In spring, swampy places became impassable. Due to the thaw that began at the end of December, the breaking of the blockade was postponed by ten days. The code name for the operation was proposed by I.V. Stalin. Half a century ago, V. I. Ulyanov, when creating the press organ of the Bolshevik Party, named the newspaper “Iskra” with the intention that the flame of revolution would ignite from a spark. Stalin thus drew an analogy, suggesting that an operational offensive maneuver would develop into a significant strategic success. General leadership was entrusted to Marshal K. E. Voroshilov. To coordinate actions, Marshal G.K. Zhukov was sent to the Volkhov Front.

Preparations for the offensive

During December, the troops intensively prepared for battle. All units were one hundred percent staffed with personnel and equipment, and up to 5 sets of ammunition were accumulated for each unit of heavy weapons. During the siege, Leningrad was able to provide the front with all the necessary military equipment and small arms. And not only specialized enterprises were involved in sewing uniforms, but also citizens who had personal use sewing machines. In the rear, sappers reinforced existing bridges and built new ones. To ensure access to the Neva, about 50 kilometers of roads were built.

Particular attention was paid to the training of fighters: they had to be taught to fight in the forest in winter and attack a fortified area equipped with strongholds and long-term firing points. In the rear of each formation, training grounds were set up, simulating the conditions of the areas of the proposed offensive. To break through the engineering, special assault groups were created. Passages were arranged. All commanders, including company commanders, were provided with updated maps and photographic diagrams. Regrouping was carried out exclusively at night or in bad weather. Front-line reconnaissance activities intensified. The location of the enemy's defensive installations was accurately established. Staff games were organized for the command staff. The final phase was conducting live-fire exercises. Disguise measures, the spread of misinformation, and the strictest observance of secrecy have borne fruit. The enemy learned of the planned offensive in just a few days. The Germans did not have time to further strengthen dangerous areas.

Balance of power

Formations of the Leningrad Front consisting of the 42nd, 55th, 67th armies held the defense of the city from the inner south-eastern side of the ring on the Uritsk - Kolpino line, the right bank territories of the Neva - to Ladoga. The 23rd Army conducted defensive operations from the northern side on the Karelian Isthmus. The military aviation forces consisted of the 13th Air Army. Breaking the blockade was ensured by 222 tanks and 37 armored vehicles. The front was commanded by Lieutenant General L. A. Govorov. The infantry units were supported from the air by the 14th Air Army. 217 tanks were concentrated in this direction. The Volkhov Front was commanded by Army General K. A. Meretskov. In the direction of the breakthrough, using reserves and regrouping forces, it was possible to achieve a superiority of manpower by four and a half times, artillery by seven times, tanks by ten times, and aviation by two times. The density of guns and mortars from Leningrad was up to 146 units per 1 km of front. The offensive was also supported by artillery from ships of the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Flotilla (88 guns with a caliber ranging from 100 to 406 mm) and naval aviation aircraft.

In the Volkhov direction, the density of guns ranged from 101 to 356 units per kilometer. The total number of strike forces on both sides reached 303 thousand soldiers and officers. The enemy besieged the city with twenty-six divisions of the 18th Army (Army Group North) and the formation of four Finnish divisions in the north. Our troops, breaking the blockade, had to attack the heavily fortified Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky area, which was defended by five divisions with seven hundred guns and mortars. The Wehrmacht group was commanded by General G. Lindemann.

Battle of the Shlisselburg salient

On the night of January 11-12, aviation of the Volkhov Front and the 13th air army The Leningrad Front carried out a massive bomb attack on predetermined targets in the planned breakthrough area. On January 12, at half past nine in the morning, artillery preparation began. The shelling of enemy positions lasted two hours and ten minutes. Half an hour before the start of the attack, attack aircraft carried out raids on fortified defensive structures and artillery batteries of the Germans. At 11.00, the 67th Army from the Neva and units of the Second Shock and Eighth Armies of the Volkhov Front began their offensive. The infantry attack was supported by artillery fire, creating a wall of fire one kilometer deep. The Wehrmacht troops resisted fiercely, and the Soviet infantry advanced slowly and unevenly.

Over two days of fighting, the distance between the attacking groups was reduced to two kilometers. Only six days later, the advancing formations of the Soviet army managed to unite in the area of ​​workers’ villages No. 1 and No. 5. On January 18, the city of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost) was liberated and the entire territory adjacent to the shore of Ladoga was cleared of the enemy. The width of the land corridor ranged from 8 to 10 kilometers in various sections. On the day the blockade of Leningrad was broken, the city’s reliable land connection with the “Mainland” was restored. The combined group of the 2nd and 67th armies tried unsuccessfully to build on the success of the offensive and expand the bridgehead to the south. The Germans were bringing up reserves. From January 19, within ten days, the German command transferred five divisions and large number artillery. The offensive in the Sinyavino area faltered. In order to hold the conquered lines, the troops went on the defensive. A positional war began. The official end date for the operation is January 30th.

Results of the offensive

As a result of the offensive of the Soviet troops, parts of the Wehrmacht army were thrown back from the shore of Ladoga, but the city itself still remained in the front-line zone. Breaking the blockade during Operation Iskra showed the maturity of the military thought of the senior command staff. The defeat of an enemy group in a thoroughly fortified area by a coordinated joint strike from outside and outside became a precedent in the Russian art of war. The armed forces have gained serious experience in conducting offensive operations in wooded areas in winter conditions. Overcoming the enemy's layered defensive system showed the need for thorough planning of artillery fire, as well as the rapid movement of units during the battle.

Losses of the parties

The loss figures indicate how bloody the battles were. The 67th and 13th armies of the Leningrad Front lost 41.2 thousand people killed and wounded, including irretrievable losses amounting to 12.4 thousand people. The Volkhov Front lost 73.9 and 21.5 thousand people, respectively. Seven enemy divisions were defeated. German losses amounted to more than 30 thousand people, irrevocable - 13 thousand people. In addition, the Soviet army received about four hundred guns and mortars, 178 machine guns, 5,000 rifles, a large amount of ammunition, and one and a half hundred vehicles as trophies. Two new heavy weapons were captured T-VI tank"Tiger".

Major victory

Operation Iskra to break the blockade achieved the desired results. Within seventeen days, a highway and a railway line thirty-three kilometers long were built along the shore of Lake Ladoga. On February 7, the first train arrived in Leningrad. A stable supply to the city and military units was restored, and the supply of electricity increased. Water supply has been restored. The situation of the civilian population, industrial enterprises, and formations of the front and the Baltic Fleet improved significantly. In subsequent years, more than eight hundred thousand civilians were evacuated from Leningrad to rear areas.

The liberation of Leningrad from the siege in January 1943 became a key moment in the defense of the city. Soviet troops in this direction finally seized the strategic initiative. The danger of a connection between German and Finnish troops was eliminated. On January 18 - the day the blockade of Leningrad was broken - the critical period of isolation of the city ended. The successful completion of the operation had great ideological significance for the people of the country. Not the largest battle of the Second World War attracted the attention of the political elite overseas. US President T. Roosevelt congratulated the Soviet leadership on the military success, and sent the city residents a letter in which he recognized the greatness of the feat, their unbending perseverance and courage.

Museum of the Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad

Along the entire line of confrontation, memorials were erected in memory of the tragic and heroic events of those years. In 1985, in the Kirov region near the village of Maryino, it was opened. It was in this place on January 12, 1943 that units of the 67th Army crossed the Neva on the ice and broke through the enemy defenses. The diorama "Breaking the Siege of Leningrad" is an artistic canvas measuring 40 by 8 meters. The canvas depicts the events of the attack on German defenses. In front of the canvas, a subject plan, 4 to 8 meters deep, recreates three-dimensional images of fortified positions, communication passages, and military equipment.

The unity of the composition of the painting canvas and volumetric design creates a stunning effect of presence. The monument "Breaking the Blockade" is located right there. The monument is a T-34 tank mounted on a pedestal. The combat vehicle seems to be rushing to join the troops of the Volkhov Front. On open area Equipment from the war is also on display in front of the museum.

The final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad. 1944

The complete lifting of the siege of the city occurred only a year later as a result of the large-scale Leningrad-Novgorod operation. The troops of the Volkhov, Baltic and Leningrad fronts defeated the main forces of the 18th Army of the Wehrmacht. January 27 became the official day for the almost 900-day blockade to be lifted. And 1943 was recorded in the historiography of the Great Patriotic War as the year of breaking the siege of Leningrad.

January 1, 1943. 559th day of the war

Rostov operation. The German command decided to launch two simultaneous attacks against the right and left wings Southern Front(A.I. Eremenko) and defeat the front’s strike forces. By January 10, the enemy concentrated against the troops of the 5th Shock Army a strong mobile group of the 6th and 11th tank, 306th, 336th infantry and 7th airfield divisions, numbering over 200 tanks. At the same time, southwest of Zimovniki, the enemy concentrated a second strong group consisting of the 17th and 23rd tank, 16th and SS "Viking" motorized divisions and several infantry units. The command of the Southern Front decided to turn the main forces of the 2nd Guards Army (R. Ya. Malinovsky) to the south and, together with units of the 51st Army, defeat the enemy southwest of Zimovniki. On January 10, formations of the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies delivered a strong blow southwest of Zimovniki in the direction of Proletarskaya and Salsk. At the same time, on the right wing, troops of the 5th Shock Army and part of the forces of the 2nd Guards Army repelled all enemy attacks and reached the lower reaches of the Northern Donets. (p.84)

The 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front (K. A. Meretskov) resumed the offensive along the entire front on January 13, but, having encountered stubborn enemy resistance everywhere, had little progress.

Sovinformburo. In the battles of January 27-31, the troops of the Don Front completed the liquidation of a group of Nazi troops surrounded west of the central part of Stalingrad. During the battles, as well as the testimony of captured German generals, it was established that by November 23, 1942, at Stalingrad, at least 330 thousand enemy troops were surrounded, if we also count the rear, construction and police units, and not 220 thousand, as was reported this earlier... Today, our troops captured, together with his headquarters, the commander of a group of German troops near Stalingrad, consisting of the 6th Army and the 4th tank army, - Field Marshal Paulus and his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Schmidt... In total, 16 generals were captured...

(192 KB) Wikipedia

Siege of Leningrad – tragic period in the history of the city on the Neva, military blockade by German, Finnish and Spanish (Blue Division) troops with the participation of volunteers from North Africa, Europe and naval forces Italy. More than 640 thousand people died from hunger alone, tens of thousands died during artillery shelling and bombing, and died in evacuation.

Lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944(the blockade ring was broken January 18, 1943) – 872 days.

2 million 544 thousand civilians of the city (including approximately 400 thousand children), 343 thousand residents of suburban areas, and troops defending the city were surrounded. Food and fuel supplies were limited (only for 1-2 months). On September 8, 1941, as a result of an air raid and a fire, food warehouses named after. A.E. Badaeva.

Food cards were introduced: from October 1, workers and engineers began to receive 400 g of bread per day, everyone else - 200 g. Public transport stopped because by the winter of 1941 - 1942 there were no fuel reserves or electricity left. Food supplies were rapidly declining, and in January 1942 there was only 200/125 g of bread per person per day. By the end of February 1942, more than 200 thousand people died from cold and hunger in Leningrad.

But the city lived and struggled: factories continued to produce military products, theaters and museums operated. All the time the blockade was going on, the Leningrad radio, where poets and writers spoke, did not stop talking. On July 2, 1942, the score of Dmitry Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony was delivered from the Urals, which was performed by the Radio Committee Orchestra on August 9, 1942 in Leningrad, besieged by the Germans.

By the beginning of the blockade, the city did not have sufficient supplies of food and fuel. The only route of communication with Leningrad remained Lake Ladoga, which was within the reach of the artillery and aviation of the besiegers; a united enemy naval flotilla was also operating on the lake. The capacity of this transport artery did not meet the needs of the city.

The city's residents, weakened from hunger, were also taken out along the "Road of Life": first of all, children, women with children, the sick, wounded and disabled, as well as students, workers of evacuated factories and their families were evacuated.

On March 25, 1942, a decision was made to clear the city from the rubble of snow, ice, dirt, sewage, and corpses, and by April 15 the city was put in order by the forces of exhausted Leningraders and soldiers of the local garrison. Trams began running again in Leningrad.

During the next blockade winter of 1942-1943. the situation in besieged Leningrad improved significantly: public transport was running, businesses were operating, schools and cinemas were opening, water supply and sewerage were in operation, city baths were working, etc.

The defense of the city was initially led by K.E. Voroshilov, and after his removal - G.K. Zhukov, the economic side was handled by A.N. Kosygin, who actually replaced the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) A.A. Zhdanov. It was Kosygin who organized the movement on the “Road of Life” and resolved disagreements between civil and military authorities.

The breaking of the blockade of Leningrad began by order of Headquarters Supreme Commander January 12, 1943 with the offensive of troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in cooperation with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet (KBF) south of Lake Ladoga. A narrow ledge separating the troops of the fronts was chosen as the place to break the blockade. On January 18, the 136th Rifle Division and the 61st Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front broke into Workers' Village No. 5 and linked up with units of the 18th Rifle Division of the Volkhov Front. On the same day, units of the 86th Infantry Division and the 34th Ski Brigade liberated Shlisselburg and cleared the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga from the enemy. In a corridor cut along the shore, in 18 days the builders erected a crossing across the Neva and laid iron and highway. The enemy blockade was broken.

By the end of 1943, the situation on the fronts had changed radically and Soviet troops were preparing for the final liquidation of the siege of Leningrad. On January 14, 1944, the forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the support of Kronstadt artillery, began the final part of the operation to liberate Leningrad. TO January 27, 1944 Soviet troops broke through the defenses of the 18th German Army, defeated its main forces and advanced 60 kilometers in depth.

After the blockade was lifted, the siege of Leningrad by enemy troops and navy continued until September 1944. To force the enemy to lift the siege of the city, in June - August 1944, Soviet troops, with the support of ships and aircraft of the Baltic Fleet, carried out the Vyborg and Svir-Petrozavodsk operations, liberated Vyborg on June 20, and Petrozavodsk on June 28. In September 1944, the island of Gogland was liberated. With the liberation of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted.

For mass heroism and courage in defending the Motherland in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, shown by the defenders of besieged Leningrad, according to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 8, 1965, the city was awarded the highest degree of distinction - the title of Hero City.

T. S. Chechviy

January 27 at Russian Federation celebrated Day military glory Russia - Day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad. The date is celebrated on the basis of the federal law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” dated March 13, 1995.

The offensive of fascist troops on Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the capture of which the German command attached important strategic and political significance, began July 10, 1941.

In August, heavy fighting was already taking place on the outskirts of the city. On August 30, German troops cut off railways, connecting Leningrad with the country. On September 8, the Nazis managed to blockade the city from land. According to Hitler's plan, Leningrad was to be wiped off the face of the earth. Having failed in their attempts to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops inside the blockade ring, the Germans decided to starve the city out. According to all calculations of the German command, the population of Leningrad should have died from hunger and cold.

On September 8, the day the blockade began, the first massive bombing of Leningrad took place. About 200 fires broke out, one of them destroyed the Badayevsky food warehouses.

In September-October, enemy aircraft carried out several raids per day. The enemy's goal was not only to interfere with the activities of important enterprises, but also to create panic among the population. Particularly intense shelling was conducted at the beginning and end of the working day. Many died during the shelling and bombing, many buildings were destroyed.

The conviction that the enemy would not be able to capture Leningrad restrained the pace of evacuation. More than two and a half million residents, including 400 thousand children, found themselves in a blocked city. There were few food supplies, so we had to use food substitutes. Since the beginning of the introduction card system The norms for the distribution of food to the population of Leningrad were repeatedly reduced.

Autumn-winter 1941-1942 - the most terrible time of the blockade. Early winter brought with it cold - heating, hot water there was none, and Leningraders began to burn furniture, books, and dismantled wooden buildings for firewood. The transport was standing still. Thousands of people died from dystrophy and cold. But Leningraders continued to work - administrative institutions, printing houses, clinics, kindergartens, theaters, a public library were working, scientists continued to work. 13-14 year old teenagers worked, replacing their fathers who had gone to the front.

In the autumn on Ladoga, due to storms, ship traffic was complicated, but tugs with barges made their way around the ice fields until December 1941, and some food was delivered by plane. Hard ice was not installed on Ladoga for a long time, and bread distribution standards were again reduced.

On November 22, the movement of vehicles on the ice road began. This transport route was called the “Road of Life”. In January 1942, traffic on the winter road was already constant. The Germans bombed and shelled the road, but they failed to stop the traffic.

By January 27, 1944, troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke the defenses of the 18th German Army, defeated its main forces and advanced 60 km in depth. Seeing a real threat of encirclement, the Germans retreated. Krasnoe Selo, Pushkin, and Pavlovsk were liberated from the enemy. January 27 became the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the siege. On this day, festive fireworks were given in Leningrad.

The siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days and became the bloodiest blockade in human history. The historical significance of the defense of Leningrad is enormous. Soviet soldiers, having stopped the enemy hordes near Leningrad, turned it into a powerful bastion of the entire Soviet-German front in the north-west. By pinning down significant forces of fascist troops for 900 days, Leningrad thereby provided significant assistance to the development of operations on all other sectors of the vast front. The victories of Moscow and Stalingrad, Kursk and the Dnieper included a significant share of the defenders of Leningrad.

The Motherland highly appreciated the feat of the city’s defenders. Over 350 thousand soldiers, officers and generals of the Leningrad Front were awarded orders and medals, 226 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. About 1.5 million people were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad".

For courage, perseverance and unprecedented heroism in the days of the difficult struggle against the Nazi invaders, the city of Leningrad was awarded on January 20, 1945 awarded the order Lenin, and on May 8, 1965 received the honorary title “Hero City”.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources