The Embassy of South Ossetia in Russia took part in the solemn mourning ceremony on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade during the Great Patriotic War.
According to the press service of the Embassy, on behalf of the people of the Republic, the Embassy laid wreaths at the foot of the Motherland monument at the Piskaryovsky memorial cemetery and at the memorial granite slab, opened in honor of the natives of Ossetia - the defenders of the besieged Leningrad.
The laying ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and members of the city government.
The ceremony was also attended by South Ossetian cadets of the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy, the Military Academy of Logistics named after General of the Army A.V. Khrulev, representatives of the Ossetian community of St. Petersburg.
In the center of St. Petersburg on Thursday, a monument to the Blockade Teacher was unveiled. It was erected at the Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad. In those years, despite the bombing, life in the city did not stop and schools also continued working. Many teachers saved children from shelling.
The blockade of Leningrad, which began on September 8, 1941, lasted almost 900 days. During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 400 thousand to 1.5 million people died. Over two thousand representatives of Ossetia were fighting in the battles on the Leningrad, Karelian and Volkhov fronts, of which nine people were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The remains of 576 natives of Ossetia, who died defending the besieged Leningrad, are buried in the Neva land. In memory of them, on May 7, 2003, a commemorative granite slab was unveiled at the Piskaryovsky Memorial Cemetery with the inscription: "To the natives of Ossetia - the defenders of the besieged Leningrad."
