The Embassy of the Republic of South Ossetia in the Russian Federation took part in the solemn mourning ceremony on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade during the Great Patriotic War, the press service of the Embassy in Moscow reports.
On behalf of the people of the Republic of South Ossetia, Ambassador to the Russian Federation Znaur Gassiev laid wreaths at the foot of the Mother Motherland monument at the Piskaryovsky Memorial Cemetery and at the memorial granite slab opened in honor of the Ossetian natives - the defenders of the besieged Leningrad.
The ceremony was attended by South Ossetian cadets of the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy, the Military Academy of Logistics, named after Army General A.V. Khrulyov, representatives of the Ossetian community of St. Petersburg.
The blockade of Leningrad, which began on September 8, 1941, lasted almost 900 days. Over the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 400 thousand to 1.5 million people died. In the battles on the Leningrad, Karelian and Volkhov fronts, more than two thousand representatives of Ossetia were fighting, of which nine people were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The remains of 576 natives of Ossetia who were killed defending the besieged Leningrad, are buried in the Neva land. In memory of them, on May 7, 2003, a memorial granite slab was opened at the Piskaryovsky Memorial Cemetery with the inscription: “To the natives of Ossetia - the defenders of the besieged Leningrad”.
