Ambassador of South Ossetia to Russia Znaur Gassiev took part in the solemn and mourning ceremony on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade during the Great Patriotic War. According to the press service of the Embassy, the ceremony took place in St. Petersburg on January 27.
On behalf of the people of the Republic of South Ossetia, Znaur Gassiev laid wreaths at the foot of the Motherland Monument at the Piskarevskoy Memorial Cemetery and to the memorial granite slab unveiled in honor of the natives of Ossetia - defenders of the besieged Leningrad.
The laying ceremony was attended by Governor Alexander Beglov and members of the city government, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Vyacheslav Makarov. On behalf of Vladimir Putin, a wreath and flowers were laid by the Presidential Plenipotentiary in the North-West Federal District, Alexander Gutsan. The ceremony was also attended by the South Ossetian cadets of the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy, the Military Academy of Logistics named after General of the Army A. V. Khrulev, representatives of the Ossetian community of St. Petersburg.
The blockade of Leningrad, which began on September 8, 1941, lasted almost 900 days. During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 400 thousand to 1.5 million people died. Over two thousand representatives of Ossetia were fighting n the battles on the Leningrad, Karelian and Volkhov fronts, of which nine people were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The remains of 576 natives of Ossetia, who died defending besieged Leningrad, lie in the Neva land. In memory of them, on May 7, 2003, at the Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery, a memorial granite slab was unveiled with the inscription: "To the natives of Ossetia - defenders of the besieged Leningrad."
