With a military parade, St. Petersburg commemorated the end of the German siege in World War II 75 years ago. More than 2500 soldiers of the Russian army marched in snowfall in front of the former Tsar’s Palace.
The parade began after reports of Russian media with a minute’s silence for the victims of the blockade in the former Leningrad. On display were historic and modern military vehicles such as tanks. Also the modern air defense system S-400 was shown, it was said.
The commemoration ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He laid flowers at the memorial cemetery Piskarjowskoje. There are hundreds of thousands of people who had not survived the blockade down. Putin’s brother also died during this time.
„The parents tried not to talk about these difficult years,“ said the Kremlin chief. He was only aware of the suffering and suffering of the people through the media and films as well as at school. For the acts of the National Socialists can and will be no forgiveness. „Like our descendants, we must do everything we can to prevent such tragedies from happening again,“ the president warned.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote with regard to the victims on Twitter: «Your exploits will be forever in our hearts».
On January 27, 1944, Soviet troops ended the blockade. More than a million people died during the 900-day German encirclement. By order of Adolf Hitler, Leningrad was to be wiped out from September 1941 onwards by systematic starvation of its inhabitants.
On the occasion of the commemoration day, Germany awarded twelve projects to twelve projects in St. Petersburg. According to the Foreign Ministry, the money will be used to modernize the hospital for war veterans. In the clinic, many still living victims would be treated. In addition, the Federal Government is promoting the establishment of a German-Russian meeting center.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Sakharova said that this humanitarian gesture should not mean that the issue of individual payments to all surviving victims, irrespective of their nationality, is now over. She recalled the decision that Jewish survivors of the blockade would each have received around 2,500 euros in compensation from Germany.
