Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Official website of the State –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Every year on January 27, we remember an important date in the history of the Great Patriotic War – the Day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege.
For 872 days and nights, Leningrad was surrounded. For 872 days, the city lived at the edge of human capabilities. For 872 days – and not a single day of capitulation.
From September 8, 1941, the enemy formed a deadly ring around Leningrad. The goal was not simply to take the city, but to wipe it off the face of the earth, along with its inhabitants. Food supplies were cut, warehouses were destroyed, and the city was subjected to daily artillery shelling and air raids. Thousands of high-explosive and incendiary bombs fell on residential areas, hospitals, schools, and museums.
Hunger became the most terrible weapon
People lost strength, fell right on the streets, died in cold apartments without getting out of bed.
In the winter of 1941–1942, the daily bread ration for workers was only 250 grams, and for children and dependents, 125. This “bread” often consisted of half cake, cellulose, and impurities.
And yet Leningrad lived
But even under these conditions, Leningraders continued to go to work, produce tanks and shells, treat the wounded, and teach children.
Factories were working. Radios were playing. Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was being performed—a musical challenge to the siege. Schools were in session. Theaters were showing productions! People shared their last crumbs of bread and supported each other, because they knew the city could not be abandoned.
Georgy Lagunov, a survivor of the siege
Georgy Viktorovich Lagunov, PhD in Economics, senior research fellow, associate professor at the Moscow Institute of Management (now the State University of Management), entered the siege as a teenager and emerged from it as an adult, aged prematurely.
He saw food for an entire city go up in flames in the Badayev warehouses—and with it, the future of thousands of people. Georgy Lagunov stood on rooftops at night under bombs and in lines during the day for 125 grams of dark, almost inedible bread. He hauled water from the Neva, warmed himself over a smokehouse, and remembered how people collapsed in the streets and never rose again.
His father died of starvation at 45. His mother went to work as a nurse to survive. But he, exhausted, still went—for water, for gruel, for bread, for life.
But most importantly, he remembered more than just death. He remembered that Leningrad hadn't surrendered. That even in hell, people didn't talk about capitulation—only about when the grain would be increased and when the siege would be broken. That mail was still running, trams were running again, gardens were being dug in the parks, and the Road of Life was being carved across the frozen Ladoga.
For the war and service, Georgy Lagunov was awarded:
Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree; Order of Glory, 3rd degree; Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945"; Medal "For the Defense of Leningrad"; Badge "Resident of Besieged Leningrad".
Nikolai Chernyak – participant in the breakthrough and lifting of the siege of Leningrad
Nikolai Ivanovich Chernyak, PhD in Philosophy and associate professor at the Moscow Institute of Management (now the State University of Management), was not locked inside besieged Leningrad—he was the one who held the front around it.
While the city was suffocating in hunger and cold, he stood on the Volkhov swamps, under snow and fire, between Leningrad and those who wanted to strangle it.
Every German attack on the city was shattered by the soldiers he rallied to the attack—the infantry, the artillery, those who defended the embrasures with their lives. He saw Leningrad survive thanks to those who died for its walls.
In January 1943, he marched with his battalions toward the Leningrad Front—through 12 kilometers of hell to break the deadly siege. He heard the roar of guns, saw his soldiers fall, and knew that if they didn't get through, the city would starve again.
Nikolai Chernyak was awarded four orders and medals for military valor as a frontline soldier and political worker who served on the Volkhov, Leningrad, and 2nd Baltic Fronts.
On January 18, 1943, the siege was broken. Land communications with the mainland were established. And on January 27, 1944, the siege was completely lifted. That evening, victory salutes thundered over the Neva and the Field of Mars.
According to various estimates, over a million people, mostly civilians, died in the besieged city. It was one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of World War II.
Leningrad is a Hero City. Its pain is our responsibility to remember. Its fortitude is our duty to preserve peace. We remember. We mourn. We are proud.
Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: January 27, 2026.
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