maybe it will inspire someone
блокада Ленинграда (The Leningrad Blockade)
This is from the siege of Leningrad. One of the bloodiest battles.
Code name: Operation Barbarossa
The capture of Leningrad was one of three strategic goals in Hitler's initial plan.
Leningrad first, Donetsk Basin second, Moscow third. Although Hitler's plan for taking the city failed, the two-and-a-half year siege caused the greatest destruction and largest loss of life ever known in a modern city.
Anti-aircraft gun beside cathedral in Leningrad in 1941 All railway lines to Leningrad were severed, and the city was encircled on land by Finnish armies to the north and German troops to the south.The 872 days of the siege caused unparalleled famine in the Leningrad region through disruption of utilities, water, energy and food supplies. This resulted in the deaths of up to 1,500,000 soldiers and civilians and the evacuation of 1,400,000 more, mainly women and children, many of whom died during evacuation due to starvation and bombardment. During the 872-day siege, reports of cannibalism appeared in the winter of 1941-1942, after all birds, rats and pets were eaten by survivors. Leningrad police even formed a special unit to combat cannibalism.
Initial defence of Leningrad was undertaken by the troops of the Leningrad Front commanded by Marshal Kliment Voroshilov which included the 23rd Army in the northern sector between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, and the 48th Army (Soviet Union) occupying the western sector between Gulf of Finland and the Slutsk-Mga position. Also in the Front were the Leningrad Fortified Region, the Leningrad garrison, the Baltic Fleet forces, and the Koporsk, Southern and Slutsk-Kolpin operational groups.To sustain the defense of the city it was vitally important for the Red Army to establish a route for bringing constant supplies into Leningrad. This route was effected over the southern part of Lake Ladoga, by means of watercraft during the warmer months and land vehicles driven over thick ice in the winter. The security of the supply route was ensured by the Ladoga Flotilla, the Leningrad PVO Corps, and route security troops. The route would also be used to evacuate civilians from the besieged city. This was because no evacuation plan had been made available in the chaos of the first winter of the war, and the city literally starved in complete isolation until November 20, 1941 when the ice road over Lake Ladoga became operational.
This road was named the Road of Life (Russian: Дорога жизни). As a road it was very dangerous. There was the risk of vehicles becoming stuck in the snow or sinking through broken ice caused by the constant German bombardment. Because of the high winter death toll the route also became known as the "Road of Death". However, the lifeline did bring military and food supplies in and took civilians out, allowing the city to continue resisting the enemy.
Barrage balloons, used for protection against air-raids,
being transported past Saint Isaac Cathedral in Leningrad.
Artillery bombardments of the Nevsky Prospekt, the main street of Leningrad.
Vasily Surikov's view of the cathedral and the Bronze Horseman in front of it.Well i hope some of the history will help, if not please let me know so i don't spam the message boards all up.
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