The Siege of Leningrad

Seven Facts and Figures About WWII You Need to Know

The blockade of Leningrad, the Soviet Union’s second-largest city, lasted for 872 days and was one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history. A total of 642,000 Russian civilians died during the siege, hunger being the cause of death in 97% of cases. Although some historians classify it as genocide, the story of the siege of Leningrad is hardly part of the western collective memory.
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