OREANDA-NEWS. January 27, 2009. The President paid tribute to the soldiers who defended Leningrad and to the residents of the city who died during the blockade.

27 January marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade.

The battle for Leningrad has gone down in history as the longest battle of the Great Patriotic War. The blockade lasted for about 900 days, from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944. During that time the city was subjected to 107 thousand bombs and 150 thousand artillery shells. According to official statistics, 641 thousand inhabitants of Leningrad died of starvation and some 17 thousand people from bombing and shelling. About 34 thousand were wounded.

During the 900-day siege about half a million people were buried in huge mass graves at Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery.