Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
President al-Mashat: Our armed forces, represented by our air defenses, will soon turn the Zionist enemy’s aircraft into a subject of ridicule.
President al-Mashat: Good news about the Zionist enemy’s aircraft used in aggression against our country will reach you soon, God willing.
President al-Mashat: Our armed forces will be able to deal with hostile Zionist aircraft without causing any harm to air or maritime navigation.
President al-Mashat: To ensure the safety of airliners, they must avoid navigating along the routes used by the Zionist entity to carry out aggression against our country.
Yemeni President Mahdi al-Mashat: For the safety of air and maritime navigation in areas where our armed forces operate, we have directed that the routes used by the Zionist enemy to attack our country be designated as dangerous.
Hamas official says despite this, Hamas leadership is currently undertaking a thorough review of the new proposal
Hamas official says the response fails to meet any of the just and legitimate demands of our people
Hamas official says it is clear that the Israeli response fundamentally seeks to entrench the occupation
Reuters citing Hamas official: Group received Israeli response to Witkoff proposal
Sources to Al Mayadeen: The news regarding a press conference tonight by the head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, is false.

Leningrad: A prelude to Nazi Germany's downfall

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Al Mayadeen
  • 8 Sep 2023 20:58
5 Min Read

On the 82nd anniversary of the siege of Leningrad by Nazi forces, learn more about the harrowing tactics used by Germans and Finns to bring down the city and its people.

  • x
  • Standing in the backyard of an abandoned house in the outskirts of the besieged city of Leningrad, a rifleman of the Red Army aims and fires his machine gun at German positions, on December 16, 1942 (AP Photo)
    Standing in the backyard of an abandoned house in the outskirts of the besieged city of Leningrad, a rifleman of the Red Army aims and fires his machine gun at German positions, on December 16, 1942 (AP Photo)

The Siege of Leningrad stands as one of the darkest chapters of World War II, when German and Finnish forces, under the command of Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler, besieged the city of Leningrad in the Soviet Union. The attack resulted in an estimated 1.2 million casualties, including 140,000 children, over approximately 842 days.

Nazi forces laid siege to the city of Leningrad, now known as St. Petersburg, during World War II, from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944, hoping to break Soviet resistance and capture the city.

Leningrad possessed dual significance, both ideologically and practically. It stood as the birthplace of the Bolshevik revolution and served as the strategic hub for the Soviet Baltic Fleet. The city boasted approximately 600 industrial factories, a production capacity rivaling only that of Moscow in terms of industrial output, making its downfall a strategic and primary objective of Operation Barbossa. Hilter had even planned to make the city the capital of territories that Axis forces occupied in Eastern Europe.

Leningrad was named after revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, who dedicated his efforts to the overthrow of Russia's Czar and the establishment of the world's first constitutionally guaranteed Socialist state, in collaboration with a group of leading comrades known as Vanguards. 

The events that unfolded in WWII saw extensive discussions and studies by historians and experts who took special interest in the invasion plans, the city's eventual successful defense, and the plight of its residents. 

A starved population persists

  • Russian men and women rescue their humble belongings from their burning homes, in a Leningrad suburb on Oct. 21, 1941 (AP Photo)
    Russian men and women rescue their humble belongings from their burning homes, in a Leningrad suburb on Oct. 21, 1941 (AP Photo)

Hitler tasked the besieging forces with destroying the city to the largest extent possible, using aerial bombardment and artillery shelling, before entering it in the spring to displace its residents to remote Russian regions or take them as prisoners.

During the city's siege by Nazi forces time, civilians endured the hardships of starvation, indiscriminate shelling, and air raids.

Initially, the Nazi forces planned to completely destroy the city, a sentiment echoed by the leadership of Finland, a German ally and partner in military operations.

Related News

Fears of World War III surge in West, Russia seen as trigger: YouGov

Victory Day in Russia: Commemorating the past amid present tensions

Historian Nikita Lomagin, a professor at the European University in St. Petersburg, stated, "The Nazi leadership clearly outlined its intentions regarding Leningrad, aiming to tighten the siege to the maximum and cut off the city's resources, in the hope that the city would quickly surrender due to the lack of necessary supplies for millions of people."

  • This photo, taken in the winter months of 1942, shows citizens of Leningrad as they dig up water from a broken main, during the 900-day siege of the Russian city by German invaders (AP Photo)
    This photo, taken in the winter months of 1942, shows citizens of Leningrad as they dig up water from a broken main, during the 900-day siege of the Russian city by German invaders (AP Photo)

German historians later attempted to justify such tactics. Lomagin added, "For a long time, Western German history viewed Leningrad as a fortified city, allowing for its treatment as a military target and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. International humanitarian law did not prohibit this approach." However, later historians in the Federal Republic of Germany recognized that the siege imposed on Leningrad amounted to genocide—a war to annihilate everyone in the city.

German forces cut off Leningrad from the south and west, encircling the city by land and sea, and blocking all supplies from reaching the city.

The residents of Leningrad suffered greatly during the siege, losing access to food, water, electricity, and medical care. Over a million people in the city perished due to hunger and disease.

Studies have shown that shelling and bombing by the invaders accounted for 3% of siege victims, while the majority succumbed to food shortages and sickness due to the shortage of essential goods.

The Red Army tips the balance

  • A Soviet anti-tank gun crew are on the alert against the Nazi invader in Leningrad, U.S.S.R., in Jan. 1943, during World War II (AP Photo)
    A Soviet anti-tank gun crew are on the alert against the Nazi invader in Leningrad, U.S.S.R., in Jan. 1943, during World War II (AP Photo)

Throughout the siege, the Soviet Red Army made several attempts to create a corridor to Leningrad, the isolated city, in hopes of transferring some essential goods.

Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Russian Parliament, said that about a million people in Leningrad had fallen victim to the siege, with most succumbing to famine.

Despite the siege, the people of Leningrad resisted bravely. They continued to work in factories and government institutions to enhance the city's defenses.

The city persevered, continuing to supply its forces and the rest of the Soviet Union with essentials. The central government led by comrade Joseph Stalin spared no effort to assist besieged Leningrad and save its residents from famine by delivering food supplies across Lake Ladoga and by air.

Simultaneously, the Soviet Red Army, under the leadership of Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, managed to push back on the aggressors on the outskirts of Leningrad and prevented their entry into the besieged city.

The Red Army forces persisted in their attempts to break the siege on Leningrad and succeeded in creating a land corridor, 33 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide, toward the besieged city. The Soviets then constructed what became known as the "Road of Life" along this corridor, which they controlled.

The siege was partially lifted in January 1943, allowing trains loaded with food to reach the city starting in February 1943. In 1944, the siege was dismantled, and the Nazi plan to abolish Leningrad from existence ultimately failed, leading to a Soviet offensive that eventually obliterated the fascist army in Berlin.

Leningrad did not surrender, negotiate, or yield. making it a symbol of bravery among the free from various nationalities, ethnicities, ideological backgrounds, and religions.

Read more: Putin commemorates 80th anniversary of Nazi defeat in Stalingrad

  • Soviet Union
  • Nazi Germany
  • Adolph Hitler
  • St. Petersburg
  • Russia
  • Leningrad
  • Vladimir Lenin
  • Joseph Stalin

Most Read

US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump tensions

US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump pressures

  • US & Canada
  • 25 May 2025
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington (AP)

Rift widens: Trump, Netanyahu clash in heated phone call over Iran

  • Politics
  • 26 May 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
Iran advisor reveals details of US-Iran nuclear talks to Al Mayadeen

Iran advisor reveals details of US-Iran nuclear talks: Al Mayadeen

  • MENA
  • 24 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Doctors weigh a Palestinian baby at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic in Muwasi, near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (AP)
Health

US-Israeli Gaza aid plan is catastrophic, inhumane: MSF

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Latakia governorate on May 30, 2025 (Social media)
Politics

Israeli airstrikes hit military targets across western Syria

An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the Iranian city of Isfahan, March 30, 2005. (AP)
Politics

US, E3 to push IAEA to declare Iran in breach of nuclear commitments

A Syrian soldier closes the gate of a military base on the outskirts of Harasta, near Damascus, Syria, Saturday, May 3, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Syrians expel Israeli patrol in Quneitra amid rising tensions

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS