#WeRemember
🌟 On January 27, 1944, Leningrad was completely liberated from the Nazi blockade.
8️⃣7️⃣2️⃣days of the barbaric siegeby the Nazis of our northern capital, which lasted for an unprecedented period from September 8, 1941 until January 27, 1944, and had devastating consequences, terrible sufferings caused by the German invaders to the people of Leningrad, finally ended.
According to historical calculations, over a million people perished during those years, including more than 600'000 of children, women, the seniors, and also the wounded and disabled soldiers — they were dying, because of the Nazis, of starvation, cold, exhaustion and disease.
#LestWeForget: The unbending people of Leningrad of all ages, men and women from small to large, demonstrated extraordinary Heroism and Courage and went through, with dignity, all the inhuman sufferings by the Nazi barbarians and their accomplices. Despite starvation, living under permanent bombing and shelling by the German and Finnish artillery, the people of Leningrad withstood the siege, defended their city and made their invaluable substantial contribution to the Great Victory.
The Nazi criminals did not avoid accountability and paid a high price for the outrageous blockade — the enemy army Group 'North' lost over 900'000 men during the siege and was ultimately destroyed by the Red Army in the Baltic region, Karelia and East Prussia.
***
❗️The history of mankind has never witnessed anything comparable to the Blockade of Leningrad in terms of the scale of the tragedy and the extent of the suffering endured by people.
The Nazis and their accomplices followed Hitler’s direct order — to hold Leningrad under a tight siege, fire at anyone crossing the frontline and seek to exterminate all the people in the city. Leningrad was completely encircled in early September 1941, cut off from the rest of the country. The only way to get in and out of the city was by air or across Lake Ladoga’s ice — the route across the lake came to be known as the#RoadOfLife.
During the first weeks of the siege, Nazi troops and the Finns, who were holding blockade of Leningrad from the north, shelled the city with heavy and dense artillery fire, resulting in food warehouses being burnt down. As Leningrad received most of its food from other regions of the country, it immediately began to suffer from food shortages, primarily a lack of bread. Only 13 bakery plants remained in operation to serve almost 2.5 million people.
Given those acute shortages of food supplies, there were strict rationing norms for bread. From November 1941, factory workers received 250 grammes, while children were entitled to just 125 (!) grammes of bread per day. Many people began to die of starvation.
❗️ However, despite all those inhuman conditions, the City never ever gave up fighting. Life in Leningrad went on and never stopped for a second.
***
The Red Army tried to break the blockade on many occasions. Having fought multiple battles, with the fiercest combats taking place on the 'Neva Bridgehead' on the River Neva’s left bank, our forces succeeded in partially lifting the siege in January 1943 as part of Operation Iskra — 'Spark'.
🎖OnJanuary 27, 1944, the Siege of Leningrad was completely lifted following a rapid offensive by the Red Army, with the Leningrad and Novgorod regions being also liberated from the Nazi invaders. Wehrmacht troops were forced to retreat to the Baltics, where they were later totally defeated and destroyed.
💬Maria Zakharova:
The defence of Leningrad has become a symbol of courageof the Soviet people. <...> The people of Leningrad saved their city despite incredible sufferings — they have saved it as their human dignity.
That is probably the greatest heroism of the people of Leningrad, the greatest sacrifice they made for all of us — not just for the people of our country but for the world as a whole.
(From the briefing by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, January 22, 2026)
#Victory80
🌟 On September 14, 1944, the Red Army launched the Baltic strategic offensive operation. Its primary goal was to liberate the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics from the Nazi scourge by defeating the enemies' Army group 'North' and expelling the German troops.
The goal was achieved, although the task was arduous! Following the operation, the Nazi troops were encircled in the so-called Courland Pocket (where the enemy resisted until the vary May of 1945), and thereafter ultimately eliminated by the Red Army.
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
Having invaded the Baltic region in the summer of 1941, instead of providing the “independence” promised to the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians, the Nazis established the occupation regime in the Soviet Baltics, which was characterized by terror and genocide. The Nazis' plan was to make the region a part of the German Reichskommissariat Ostland.
▪️ When the Nazis occupied Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, the local radical nationalists and pro-fascist organisations raised their heads there and swore allegiance to Hitler. Doing the dirty job for their Nazi masters, the Baltic collaborators carried out atrocities with extreme cruelty, executing civilians, burning villages, and organising massacres. With their involvement, more than 100'000 people were annihilated in concentration camps, such as Salaspils and Klooga.
👉Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian collaborators also took part in the mass executions in the neighbouring regions of the Soviet Union (including in Belarus). They were also involved in the Nazis' campaign to exterminate Jews. The blood of hundreds of thousands of civilians and POWs is on the hands of those criminals.
Today, unfortunately, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania glorify those Nazi criminals on the governmental level, with monuments unveiled in the honour of the Nazi Baltic henchmen and gatherings held in the Baltics to commemorate Waffen-SS legionnaires, other Nazi collaborators, and their adherents.
***
During #WWII, the Baltic region was of crucial strategic importance to the Reich on the Eastern front. The control over the region allowed the Nazis to rule over the Gulf of Finland from the south and the eastern Baltic, and to ensure uninterrupted deliveries of Swedish and Norwegian raw materials critical for the Nazi war machine, such as iron ore, coal, and others.
The Nazis extracted agricultural resources from Latvia and Lithuania, while Estonia alone provided Nazi Germany with nearly half a million tonnes of oil products annually.
❗️ Furthermore, the Baltic region shielded the way to East Prussia — the stronghold of German militarism. So, the Nazis were seeking to retain the Baltic bridgehead at any cost.
The Nazis installed in the Baltics powerful fortifications, designed for long-term defence, including the so-called Tannenberg Line — a complex of heavy fortified lines and trenches stretching for more than 50 km long and 25-30 km deep, located about 20-25 km west of Narva — on the isthmus between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus (Chudskoye).
⚔️ On September 14, 1944, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Baltic Fronts of the Red Army launched the strategic offensive towards Riga. Within just three days, the Soviet forces advanced up to 50 km. On September 22, Tallinn was liberated, followed by Riga on October 13.
The final stage of the operation was the liberation of the Moonsund archipelago in northwestern Estonia: by November 24, the Nazi troops were expelled from the islands of Ösel (today’s Saaremaa) and Dago (Hiiumaa).
As a result of the Baltic strategic offensive operation, the Red Army inflicted a crushing defeat to the enemy. The Nazi army group 'North' was mostly destroyed, with its remnants trapped on the Courland Peninsula, unable to engage further in Germany’s eastern defences in 1945.
🎖 112 Red Army soldiers were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. More than 332,000 received orders and medals.
#WeRemember
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
🕯 September 29 marks 84 years since the beginning of the mass executions of the Jewish population by the Nazis on the outskirts of occupied Kiev, in the ravine of #BabiYar.
On that tragic day, Jews were gathered and led to the edge of the ravine. Many, until the very last moment, had no idea they were about to be killed. Others understood what was happening — they embraced, said their goodbyes and prayed.
This monstrous crime, a bloodbath, claimed the lives of 33’771 people, among them many women, children and the elderly.
In total, between 1941 and 1943, over 120’000 people of various nationalities were executed at Babi Yar. Among the victims were Jews, Roma, Poles, as well as Soviet prisoners of war, concentration camp victims, clergy, members of the underground resistance and party activists. The mass executions continued until the city was liberated by the Red Army.
▪️Babi Yar is the most infamous Holocaust site in Ukraine, standing in the same horrific line as Khatyn, Treblinka and Auschwitz.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet leadership at various points informed the international community on the horrific crimes and atrocities committed by the Nazi invaders, including the Holocaust and the mass murder of Jews at Babi Yar and other death camps.
The responsibility for the mass killings lay with Sonderkommando 4a, part of Einsatzgruppe C. Upon retreating from Kiev, the Nazis tried to erase the evidence of their crimes: they exhumed and burned tens of thousands of bodies. Later, a few survivors of the massacre testified at the Nuremberg Trials about the Nazi atrocities. Paul Blobel, who oversaw the executions at Babi Yar, was sentenced to death and hanged.
❗️Ukrainian nationalists serving in auxiliary police forces took an active part in the bloodshed and were known for their cruelty towards the civilian population.
💬 Mikhail Sidko, one of the few survivors of Babi Yar, who was just six years old at the time:
Many, realising what awaited them, went mad right there. They started screaming and were immediately shot. Their bodies were dragged into the ravine.
The mass extermination of civilians at Babi Yar is one of the darkest chapters of the Great Patriotic War and World War II. This monstrous crime stands as an eternal reminder of the absolute inadmissibility of any form of neo-Nazism.
#WeRemember
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
🗓 On March 24, 1999, the North Atlantic bloc started bombing Yugoslavia. The "military operation" against a sovereign state became a tragic milestone in the life of the Serbian people and delivered a devastating blow to international law.
The US & its cronies bombed the cities, including Belgrade, villages & civilian infrastructure for 78 days, blowing up bridges, passenger trains and buses and killing women, children & elderly people. In doing so, the West destroyed the post-WWII foundations of European security and started replacing the legitimate mechanisms that regulated international relations with a “rules-based order”.
▪️ 3'000 cruise missiles were fired at a sovereign European republic & 80'000 tonnes of bombs were dropped on its people.
The use of depleted uranium ammunitioncontaminated vast areas & caused an unprecedented rise in cancer-related diseases that continues to affect people to this day.
More than 200'000 non-Albanian residents of Kosovo, forced to flee their homes, have yet to return.
Under the cover of NATO's aggression, members of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" committed heinous crimes, including the abduction and murder of Serbs for the illegal trade of human organs.
❗️None of the NATO representatives has been called to account. The victims of the aggression were written off as “collateral damage,” meaning losses that "accompany" the fulfillment of the geopolitical ambitions of the US, the UK, and their satellites.
💬 From the briefing by Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, (Moscow, March 20, 2025):
NATO’s “humanitarian intervention” can serve as an example of modern barbarity and the rule-based world order and its backbone value: unfounded belief in its own superiority. <...> This is what Western democracy and freedoms look like. This view is still dominating in the West, where thousands of killed Yugoslavian civilians, including 89 children, are cynically called collateral damage. This is democracy with freedom of speech.
The issue of the NATO allies’ responsibility for the damage they have done to international relations and Yugoslavia remains unresolved.
🕯 The brutal operation carried out against sovereign Yugoslavia 26 years ago is a tragedy inflicted upon the people of Yugoslavia by NATO warmongers with lasting and multifaceted consequences.
#WeRemember#Yugoslavia1999
前往 #和平紀念日 典禮的乘客
可取道 #中環 站 出口 J3 - 香港會所大廈
#中環 站出口位置 👉metroride.hk/3F89wcu
該站 出口 J1 - 終審法院 將於 11 月 10 日（星期日） 10:00 關閉至 12:00 為止，使進出街道的人流更為暢順 🌺
#LestWeForget
#英魂不朽#永誌不忘
Use Exit J3 - The Hong Kong Club Building for #Remembrance Day Ceremony
Exit locations of Central 👉metroride.hk/3F89wcu
While Exit J1 - The Court of Final Appeal will be closed from 10:00 - 12:00, 10/Nov (Sun) for a smoother passenger flow to and from street level 🌺
#Victory80
🌟 80 years ago, on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, in accordance with its commitments to the Allies, entered the war against militarist Japan.
The Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation of the Soviet forces in the Far East commenced. Its goal was to defeat the enemy’s Kwantung Army and to drive the Japanese occupants from northeastern China and Korea.
***
After the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its satellites, Japan remained the only 'Axis' power still at war with the Allies. It possessed significant military capabilities to wage war, including offensive operations.
In the summer of 1945, the Japanese kept near the Soviet borders an almost one million-strong Kwantung Army, ready to treacherously invade our country at any moment.
Moreover, militarist Japan still occupied huge territories — the Korean Peninsula, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaya, and a portion of China, as well as Burma, and the Philippine Islands.
Thus, Japan posed a threat not only to our country’s security, but also to the emerging post-war world order, which was taking shape after the defeat of Nazi Germany and was based on the decisions and agreements of the leaders of the victorious Allied powers.
For example, Japan rejected the demand made by China, the United States, and UK on July 26, 1945 (paragraph 13 of the Potsdam Declaration) for the unconditional surrender of its armed forces. After that, the Allied powers officially appealed to the Soviet government to repel Japanese aggression.
***
In early August 1945, the Supreme High Command of the Soviet Union approved a plan for military operations against Japan. The planning of the operation was entrusted to the specially created Main Command of the Far Eastern Forces led by Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky.
On August 9, the Red Army launched an offensive in Manchuria. The Soviet units, supported by aviation and the navy, advanced rapidly. Strikes were delivered on targets on land, at sea, and in the air. Combat operations unfolded along the front line that was over 5'000 kilometres wide.
Within a month, the Soviet forces liberated Harbin, some territories of Northeastern China and Northern Korea, and took South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The breakthrough of the Red Army deep into Manchuria deprived the Japanese command of the opportunity to use bacteriological weapons against our country — Tokyo had been nurturing that plan during #WWII (👉learn more)
By August 20, Japan’s ability to offer resistance to the Red Army was shattered. Almost everywhere, enemy soldiers were surrendering. The million-strong Kwantung Army was defeated.
By September 1, 1945, the Soviet army had completed the assigned objectives. In just 23 days of combat, they crushed the Japanese militarist machine, thus making a decisive contribution to ending WWII in the Far East.
☝️ Our country regained South Sakhalin, which had been seized by Japan from the Russian Empire in 1905, took the Kuril Islands, and restored lease rights to the Kwantung Peninsula with Port Arthur and Dalian.
On September 2, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Japan was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. From the Soviet Union, the Act was signed by General Kuzma Derevyanko. This signing marked the end of WWII.
📖Read more about the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation and the heroism of the Soviet soldiers in liberating northeastern China and Korea in our in-depth historical feature.
#WeRemember#OurVictory
#Victory80
🌟 On August 5, 1941, the heroic defence of Odessa — the operation of the Red Army and the USSR’s Black Sea Fleet to defend the city from the Nazi invaders during #WWII.
In the early days of Germany's aggression against the Soviet Union, Odessa and its suburbs became the frontline. By early August 1941, the enemy troops encircled the city; its glorious and heroic defence lasted for 73 days.
Hitler wanted his forces to break through the Soviet defence lines along the Dniester and seize Odessa. Romanian and German troops mounted their first assault against the city on August 20, 1941, but the Red Army managed to stop the enemy offensive (17 divisions and 7 brigades) and keep them at a distance of 10 to 14 kilometres from the city’s outskirts.
Up to 100'000 Odessa residents contributed to preparing the city to fight against the Nazis. Home front workers, including women and teenagers, put enormous efforts every day to build defensive structures: digging trenches, installing barbwire, and erecting barricades. The city’s defenders planted 40'000 mines and dug over 250 kilometres of anti-tank ditches.
Almost 38'000 Odessa residents moved to the catacombs to launch a resistance movement behind the Nazi lines. The partisans destroyed 5'000 enemy soldiers and officers, derailed 27 enemy trains carrying military assets, and bombed 248 vehicles.
Although the enemy outnumbered Odessa’s defenders, they deterred the Nazi invasion for two months. Owing to their courageous efforts, the Supreme High Command managed to redeploy substantial military forces and equipment to defend Crimea and Sevastopol — Black Sea Fleet’s base.
According to varying estimates, the enemy lost over 160'000 soldiers and officers, approximately 200 planes and some 100 tanks in the Battle for Odessa, which made it harder for the Nazi Army Group South’s right wing to advance further east.
🎖 On May 1, 1945, Odessa became one of the first Hero Cities alongside Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Sevastopol, as per an executive order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
#WeRemember#GreatPatrioticWar
🎗About the "Immortal Regiment" march at the Russian Embassy in China
On May 9, the "Immortal Regiment" international patriotic march took place on the premises of the diplomatic mission. The march was led by Russian Ambassador Igor Morgulov and Belarusian Ambassador Alexander Chervyakov.
More than 800 people came to honor the memory of Soviet soldiers: diplomatic mission staff and their families, Russian students studying in Beijing, compatriots living there, and citizens of CIS countries and China.
To the accompaniment of wartime songs, participants marched with portraits of their family and friends—those who fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, as well as Soviet volunteer pilots who helped the Chinese people in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Militarism.
We express our sincere gratitude to everyone who took part in the event.
#Victory81#VictoryDay
#PeaceSavedSovietSoldier
#WeRemember
#OTD exactly 23 years ago, in 1999, #NATO launched air strikes against #Yugoslavia without authorization by the #UN Security Council. The bombing campaign lasted almost three months and resulted in large-scale civilian casualties.
#LestWeForget
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#Вэтотдень ровно 23 года назад, в 1999 г., без санкции Совета Безопасности #ООН началась военно-воздушная операция #НАТО против Югославии. Бомбардировки продолжались почти три месяца и привели к масштабным потерям среди мирного населения.
🗓 On September 7, 1945, a military parade of the allied forces of the #USSR, US, UK and France took place in Berlin near the walls of the defeated Reichstag on Alexanderplatz Square, marking the end of #WWII.
The location of the parade – at the Brandenburg Gate, at the very heart of the German capital – was not chosen by chance. It was right here where the Battle of Berlin ended and the remnants of the Berlin group of German troops surrendered to the Red Army. Scheduled for September 7, the parade was timed to coincide with the victory over militaristic Japan.
Representatives of the allied powers responded positively to Moscow's proposal to hold a joint parade in Berlin. However, on the eve of the event, after the date and all the details had been agreed upon, the US, UK and France announced that instead of the commanders-in-chief – Eisenhower, Montgomery and Tassigny – they would send lower-ranking generals, who were already stationed in Germany, to the parade. By doing so, the allies tried to downplay the significance of the parde, which emphasized the decisive role of the Soviet Union in taking Berlin. At that time, no one doubted who bore the brunt of the storming of the capital of the Third Reich.
🇷🇺 The USSR carried out thorough preparations for the parade. The Soviet command enlisted the Red Army's most distinguished soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals who had shown unrivalled courage in taking Berlin and the main centers of the reich – the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery.
🎖On September 7 at 11 am, the Berlin allied parade commenced. It was received by the Commander of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Georgy Zhukov. The parade was opened by the combined regiment of the 248th Rifle Division of the Red Army, led by Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Lenev. The parade was closed by a column of the Soviet armor, with the latest heavy tanks IS-3 ("Joseph Stalin") marching.
#WeWereAllies
💬 In his welcoming speech to the participants of the parade, Marshal Zhukov paid tribute to the exploits of the Soviet and Allied forces in the struggle for victory over Nazi Germany:
Fighting friends, comrades in arms, soldiers, officers and generals... <...> The Second World War ended with a decisive and powerful strike from the great allied powers. Our victory is a triumph of an unprecedented military partnership of democratic states.
From now on, people <...> will be eternally grateful to the great nations of America, England, the Soviet Union, the French Republic and China, to their valiant soldiers who, in the difficult time of military trials, gave each other helping hands, united to win a victory over a common enemy, to win the long-awaited peace on Earth.
#Victory80#WeRemember
🇷🇺🇰🇬About the "Immortal Regiment" march in Kyrgyzstan
🔴🔴🔴Throughout the country, in all regional capitals, as well as other cities, tens of thousands of Kyrgyzstanis took part in the international Immortal Regiment" march.
🔴🔴#Victory81
#WeRemember
#ImmortalRegiment
#RussiaKyrgyzstan
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