#Victory81
🏅 In January 1944, Leningrad was completely liberated from the Nazi siege, which had lasted 8️⃣7️⃣2️⃣ days.
During this time, the city endured severe hunger, constant shelling, and bombing.
◾️ Facts about the genocide of the Soviet people in Leningrad 👉 More than 1 million people fell victim to the genocide. Of these, over 600,000 residents — children, women, the elderly, soldiers wounded and maimed at the front — died of hunger, cold, exhaustion, and disease.
Leningraders saw death all around them every day, but they did not lose their dignity and faith in Victory.
The memory of the Leningrad siege is preserved by museums, memorials, and the Piskarevskoye Cemetery, and the stories of survivors remind us of the courage and resilience of the city's residents.
#WeRemember
🎥The film was produced by the Information Department of the Administration of the Governor of St. Petersburg, commissioned by the Government of St. Petersburg, with the support of JSC "GATR" and the Archives Committee.
🌟 On the occasion 80th anniversary of the Day of Liberation of Vienna from Nazi invaders Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE A.Lukashevich, Russian Ambassador to Austria D.Lyubinsky, Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna M.Ulyanov, as well as Ambassadors of the CIS honored the memory of Soviet soldiers at the Schwarzenberg Square in Vienna
#WeRemember
8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on the night of February 2, 1945, Soviet POWs made a daring escape from the Mauthausen concentration camp.
In the rebellion, considered among the largest in World War II, over 400 Soviet prisoners of war escaped from the notorious German Nazi concentration camp that belonged to the third, toughest category of concentration camps for “the incorrigible enemies of the Reich.”
With beatings, torture, abuse and starvation being the camp’s routine, lives of prisoners held no value: they could be killed by an SS officer or by a fellow inmate serving in the camp’s administration at any moment.
Citizens of the USSR, Poland, and Hungary were the most numerous groups of prisoners. Up to 335,000 people passed through the camp during its existence, including over 120,000 who perished there.
🕯 A total of 32,180 Soviet civilians and military personnel were tortured to death at the Mauthausen camp. Among those brutally murdered was Lieutenant General of the Red Army Dmitry Karbyshev.
In the early hours of February 2, 1945, the prisoners made a daring escape attempt. They jumped out the barrack windows and hurled whatever they could find at the machine gun towers. Those who managed to get over the fence dashed barefoot across the snow-covered outer perimeter of the camp.
Nearly all of the ~400 rebelling prisoners were killed during the escape or the hunt; only about ten remained alive.
❗️ In May 1945, the remaining prisoners of the Mauthausen concentration camp were liberated. The camp staff were arrested and brought to trial in 1946. All 61 "defendants" were found guilty, with 58 receiving death sentences and three sentenced to life imprisonment. The death penalties were executed on May 27-28, 1947.
#WeRemember
🌟 On January 27, Gleb Shubin, the Cultural Attaché of the Russian Embassy in Pakistan, delivered a lecture to Russian language students at the Allama Iqbal Open University. The lecture was dedicated to the 82nd anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade and the 81st anniversary of Soviet troops liberating prisoners from the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.
Mr. Shubin emphasized that the courage and unyielding will of the residents of Leningrad and the Soviet Union as a whole during World War II thwarted Nazi Germany's inhuman plans.
❗️The Russian diplomat noted that the Soviet people's unparalleled heroism and countless sacrifices in the bloodiest war in human history were decisive in defeating Nazism and ensuring the independence and stable development of most countries in Eurasia.
#WeRemember
🦅 On August 1, Russia commemorates the Day of Remembrance for Russian Soldiers Who Fell in World War I. On this day in 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire, and by August 2, had already invaded its territory.
Thus, our country joined the then largest and bloodiest armed conflict in history.
At the beginning of the XX century, Europe was effectively divided into two opposing blocs — the Entente (the British Empire, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (the German Empire, Austro-Hungary, and Italy). Each side had mutual grievances, and their subsequent arms race marked the preparations for a large-scale war.
The immediate trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo. He was killed by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the nationalist organisation "Young Bosnia".
On July 23, Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, deliberately containing demands that were impossible to meet. The Serbian government responded with restraint, accepting many of the conditions, but rejected some key points, including allowing Austro-Hungarian police onto Serbian territory. As a result, on July 28, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
🇷🇺 Russia, long regarded as the protector of Orthodox Slavic nations in the Balkans, could not remain uninvolved and on the night of July 31, declared a general mobilisation.
On August 1, the German Empire declared war on the Russian Empire; two days later — on France. On August 4, the British Empire declared war on Germany. On August 6, Austro-Hungary declared war on Russia. Thus, within the span of a single week, the leading European powers were drawn into the conflict.
The war that had begun among a few European countries gradually engulfed 38 nations. The conflict lasted just over four years but surpassed all previous wars in human history in both scale and consequences.
The total number of mobilized soldiers reached 73.5 million. During the hostilities, 10 million people were killed — as many as had died in all European wars over the previous thousand years — and 20 million were wounded, 3.5 million of whom were left permanently disabled.
🥈 The Russian Empire had to fulfill its obligations as an ally while also pursuing its own strategic objectives. The most important directions, from the country's perspective, were the Southwestern and Caucasus fronts, while the Northwestern and Western directions played a less central role. However, due to treaty obligations, the Russian command undertook a full-scale offensive in East Prussia in 1914.
Under these difficult conditions, our soldiers and officers demonstrated exceptional courage and bravery.
One of the symbols of Russian valour was the defence of the Osowiec Fortress. German troops used chemical weapons — a mixture of chlorine and bromine — killing most of the garrison. To the enemy's shock, the surviving defenders launched a bayonet charge and drove them into retreat. This event went down in history as the "Attack of the Dead Men."
One of the most significant and vivid episodes of World War I, according to many historians, was the famous Brusilov Offensive by the Russian Imperial Army on the Southwestern Front. It pushed Austro-Hungary to the brink of collapse and forced the German Empire to divert substantial forces from Verdun in France to the “Russian theatre of war.”
🕯The self-sacrifice of Russian soldiers and officers is hard to overestimate. Over the course of the war, over 2 million of them perished.
Our country honours the memory of the heroes of those days: in 2004, the Memorial Park Complex to the Heroes of World War I was opened in Moscow, and in 2014, a monument to the heroes of World War I was unveiled on Poklonnaya Hill. In total, 20 monuments and memorials have been erected across Russia and abroad.
👉Read more
#WeRemember
🕯 On June 22, Russian Embassy in Cambodia held the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow Meeting. Exactly 84 years ago, Hitler's Germany attacked the Soviet Union.
H.E. Mr Anatoly Borovik, employees of the diplomatic mission and members of their families, as well as teachers of the Embassy School laid flowers at the Obelisk to the Fallen Soldiers and lit candles. The memory of the perished in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) was honored with the Minute of Silence.
#WeRemember
🦅 On August 1, Russia commemorates the Day of Remembrance for Russian Soldiers Who Fell in World War I. On this day in 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire, and by August 2, had already invaded its territory.
Thus, our country joined the then largest and bloodiest armed conflict in history.
At the beginning of the XX century, Europe was effectively divided into two opposing blocs — the Entente (the British Empire, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (the German Empire, Austro-Hungary, and Italy). Each side had mutual grievances, and their subsequent arms race marked the preparations for a large-scale war.
The immediate trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo. He was killed by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the nationalist organisation "Young Bosnia".
On July 23, Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, deliberately containing demands that were impossible to meet. The Serbian government responded with restraint, accepting many of the conditions, but rejected some key points, including allowing Austro-Hungarian police onto Serbian territory. As a result, on July 28, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
🇷🇺 Russia, long regarded as the protector of Orthodox Slavic nations in the Balkans, could not remain uninvolved and on the night of July 31, declared a general mobilisation.
On August 1, the German Empire declared war on the Russian Empire; two days later — on France. On August 4, the British Empire declared war on Germany. On August 6, Austro-Hungary declared war on Russia. Thus, within the span of a single week, the leading European powers were drawn into the conflict.
The war that had begun among a few European countries gradually engulfed 38 nations. The conflict lasted just over four years but surpassed all previous wars in human history in both scale and consequences.
The total number of mobilized soldiers reached 73.5 million. During the hostilities, 10 million people were killed — as many as had died in all European wars over the previous thousand years — and 20 million were wounded, 3.5 million of whom were left permanently disabled.
🥈 The Russian Empire had to fulfill its obligations as an ally while also pursuing its own strategic objectives. The most important directions, from the country's perspective, were the Southwestern and Caucasus fronts, while the Northwestern and Western directions played a less central role. However, due to treaty obligations, the Russian command undertook a full-scale offensive in East Prussia in 1914.
Under these difficult conditions, our soldiers and officers demonstrated exceptional courage and bravery.
One of the symbols of Russian valour was the defence of the Osowiec Fortress. German troops used chemical weapons — a mixture of chlorine and bromine — killing most of the garrison. To the enemy's shock, the surviving defenders launched a bayonet charge and drove them into retreat. This event went down in history as the "Attack of the Dead Men."
One of the most significant and vivid episodes of World War I, according to many historians, was the famous Brusilov Offensive by the Russian Imperial Army on the Southwestern Front. It pushed Austro-Hungary to the brink of collapse and forced the German Empire to divert substantial forces from Verdun in France to the “Russian theatre of war.”
🕯The self-sacrifice of Russian soldiers and officers is hard to overestimate. Over the course of the war, over 2 million of them perished.
Our country honours the memory of the heroes of those days: in 2004, the Memorial Park Complex to the Heroes of World War I was opened in Moscow, and in 2014, a monument to the heroes of World War I was unveiled on Poklonnaya Hill. In total, 20 monuments and memorials have been erected across Russia and abroad.
👉Read more
#WeRemember
#Victory81
🌟 On April 9, 1945, the Red Army captured the Nazi fortress city — Königsberg — during the East-Prussian offensive. The German Wehrmacht’s troops in East Prussia — powerful fascists' units on the Eastern Front — were totally destroyed once and for all.
The 3rd Belarussian Front of the Red Army carried out the Königsberg operation and crushed the Nazis withinjust three days. The first line of the enemy defences was breached within the first 24 hours, the fortress city surrounded the next day, with the last pockets of Nazi resistance being eliminated on April 9.
***
#Königsbergserved as a ToO with fierce and bloody battles during #WWII. The city itself, which was regarded as the most impregnable citadel of the Third Reich, was fortified with then cutting-edge military technology and prepared for long-term resistance in conditions of complete isolation. The city area of about 200 square kilometres was turned into a complicated network of fortifications, which, combined with numerous stone buildings in the suburbs, provided conditions for long-term defence.
The citadel was termed by the Nazis the “iron door of Germany.” The Red Army soldiers and officers who took part in the assault on Königsberg recalled that only the 305mm artillery guns could penetrate the several-metres thick walls. The fall of Königsberg delivered a heavy blow to the Nazi war machine — the enemy lost the strategic Pillau naval base on the Baltic Sea, with the main German troops of the Samland and East Prussian armies being completely defeated.
🔉Excerpt from the Soviet "Sovinformburo" communique on April 9, 1945:
On April 9, the forces of the 3rd Belarussian Front stormed and captured <...> the Königsberg fortress — the capital of East Prussia and a strategic hub of Nazi defences on the Baltic Sea.
By 8 pm, our armies took as prisoners over 27'000 Nazi soldiers and officers, seized a large amount of weapons and various military equipment.
👉The fall of Königsberg and East Prussia accelerated the defeat of the Nazi war machine. The end of the Third Reich was a foregone conclusion, but the enemy, fearing just retribution for the numerous crimes it had committed, continued to fight desperately.
#LestWeForget: The Red Army soldiers and officers demonstrated high combat readiness and mass heroism: 235 soldiers were later awarded the title of #HeroOfTheSovietUnion. To commemorate their feat, the 'Medal For the Capture of Königsberg' was established and awarded to 760'000 Soviet soldiers and officers.
By decisions of the Potsdam Conference following the end of WWII in Europe, a large part of East Prussia was assigned to Poland, while a third of its territory with Königsberg was incorporated into the Soviet Union and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (the Kaliningrad Region).
🎖 On November 17, 2025, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on establishing a new commemorative date — April 9, Day of the Heroic Assault and Capture of Königsberg.
#WeRemember
🎗 On May 4, on the eve of the Victory Day, the Embassy of Russia in Cambodia launched the Saint George’s Ribbon campaign. The staff members of the diplomatic mission led by H.E. Mr Anatoly Borovik, students and teachers of the Embassy School joined the event.
#Victory81
#NoOneIsForgotten
“I did everything possible to fulfill my duty...”
🏅 On December 1, 1896, Georgy Zhukov was born – the legendary Marshal of Victory and four-time Hero of the Soviet Union, who played a pivotal role in the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany.
Born into a peasant family, he joined the army in 1915 and fought in the First World War. He served in the Red Army from 1918, rising from platoon commander to Army General, and during the Great Patriotic War, in 1943, was awarded the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
He won his first major victory in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939. Thanks to Zhukov’s decisive actions, the Japanese army was encircled and destroyed, that became a key factor in Japan’s decision to abandon plans for a large-scale invasion of the USSR.
Zhukov’s strategic talent was displayed in full during the Great Patriotic War (World War II). He commanded the forces that defended Leningrad and Moscow, fought in the Battle of Kursk, crossed the Dnieper River, participated in the Byelorussian and Vistula-Oder offensives, and stormed Berlin. It was he who commanded the 1st Byelorussian Front during the final assault on Berlin, accepted Germany’s surrender, and took the first historic Victory Parade.
🎖 Marshal of the Soviet Union since 1943, three times Hero of the USSR, and two times Cavalier of the Order of Victory. In the postwar period, Georgy Zhukov was First Deputy Minister of Defence and later USSR Minister of Defence; he carried out sweeping reforms in the Soviet Army.
✍️ From Georgy Zhukov's memoirs: “The main thing for me was to serve my Motherland and my people. And I can say with clean conscience: I did everything possible to fulfill my duty… I was living my life with awareness that I worked for the benefit of my people, and this is the principal thing for any life.”
#Victory80#WeRemember