Concert to mark the 80th anniversary of breaking the Nazi siege of Leningrad

The gala event was held at the Gazprom Arena stadium in St Petersburg. The guests of honour include Great Patriotic War veterans, defenders and residents of besieged Leningrad, and home front workers. The artistic and musical director of the concert programme is Yury Bashmet.

Previously, the presidents of Russia and Belarus took part in the ceremony to unveil a memorial to the USSR civilians who fell victim of the Nazi genocide during the Great Patriotic War.

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Speech at the gala concert

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Dear veterans, residents of Leningrad, Mr Lukashenko, friends,

Today is a special day. Its significance cannot be measured except in the feelings experienced by every person in the worn-out and heroic besieged Leningrad in January 1944.

Exactly 80 years ago, the enemy siege of Leningrad was completely lifted. Its great destiny, struggle, courage, and victory will forever remain one of the most tragic but also triumphant chapters in the history of Russia and the entire world.

The Nazi directive "On the Future of St Petersburg" explicitly stated that the city was to be besieged and, I quote, "wiped off the face of the earth." Any possible proposals for surrender, according to this directive, "must be rejected." But the arrogant enemy waited for capitulation in vain: the city fought back. The people of Leningrad and Red Army soldiers stood as a wall in the invaders' path.

The Nazis acted with great cruelty and cynicism, in strict accordance with their merciless orders. They relentlessly bombarded the city, attacked it from the air and deliberately subjected almost two and a half million people to starvation and extreme, unimaginable hardships.

For 872 days, Leningrad was under siege. The metronome became the pulse of the city, and its heart was the people who, despite all the trials, continued to work and fight to save the city, their homeland, and to achieve Victory.

For 872 days, the Nazis and their followers wreaked havoc all around Leningrad: they executed and tortured defenceless citizens, killed prisoners of war, destroyed invaluable monuments, and looted museums, historical palaces, and estates.

For 872 days, a fierce battle raged on the outskirts of Leningrad. The victory was achieved by the Soviet soldiers and officers who fought for the truth, freedom, and justice, for their families, for their homes, for their Motherland.

To be continued.