Russia's Vladivostok marks anniversary of lifting Nazi siege of Leningrad
Xinhua, January 27, 2015 Adjust font size:
Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok joined many other Russian cities on Monday to mark the 71st anniversary of ending the Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II (WWII).
WWII veterans, residents who once lived in the besieged Leningrad city, known as St. Petersburg today, Vladivostok's authorities and honorary residents took part in a solemn gathering held at the War Memorial Wall of the Pacific Fleet Military Glory complex.
The ceremony participants gathered for a minute of silence and then laid wreaths at the Memorial wall.
"Every year we, Leningrad residents who later moved to Vladivostok, gather here to commemorate the day of the breakthrough of the siege. We always remember those dark days and the losses everyone suffered," said Valentina Pavlovna Shubina, representing a local organization embracing less than 100 siege survivors now living in Vladivostok.
The organization represented 420 Blockade survivors in the city when it was founded in 1992.
Leningrad was besieged by the Nazi troops on Sept. 8, 1941 and the siege was lifted on Jan. 27, 1944. The blockade had led to the death of more than 600,000 Soviet civilians and servicemen. Endi