ST-PETERSBURG, January 27. /TASS/. The Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II stands next to such heinous crimes against humanity as the Holocaust and its infamous death camps, Russian President Vladimir Putin said before an awards ceremony for Russian veterans.
"The siege of Leningrad is among such heinous crimes against humanity as the Holocaust, death camps and punitive raids by Nazi collaborators against civilians," Putin said.
He recalled that the siege of Leningrad was "unprecedented in the scale of cruelty and cynicism."
"The enemy sought to wipe the city off the face of the earth, to encircle it and destroy it by bombardments and artillery strikes. The civilians were to be starved to death. These were the conscious, documented intentions of the Nazis. Their plan was the systematic extermination of many thousands of defenseless people," he added.
Putin recalled that the blockade claimed more than one million lives.
"But despite the losses, our city continued to live on. In hellish conditions of hunger and cold, exposed to bombardments and shellings, its people kept toiling at factories and hospitals. They sewed clothing for soldiers, fought fires, and cared for the wounded. Most amazingly, they donated blood for those injured at the frontline! It’s just amazing. They could not be broken," he added.
Putin also noted that during that time even little children and teenagers contributed to the nation’s war effort.
"We have with us today a group of Leningraders who went through these harsh trials in their childhood. I wish you all, our veterans, health and well-being. A deep bow to you," he said.
The Nazi siege of Leningrad, which began on September 8, 1941, lasted 872 days. The Battle of Leningrad went down in history as one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II.