The Great Patriotic War

World War II is recognized as the largest, destructive and bloody war in the history of mankind. Russian people more often refer to it as the Great Patriotic War.

The war came to Russia on June 22, 1941. Russian troops immediately began to suffer huge losses, the inhabitants of the captured territories found themselves in German captivity and were sent into camps as slaves. However, despite the fact that the Soviet army was losing, it still managed to stop the Germans on the way to Leningrad, Moscow and Novgorod.

Leningrad was taken into blockade, the inhabitants of the city remained without the supply of food, fuel, medicines and everything necessary for life for long 872 days.

Blockade of Leningrad in pictures

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Victory Day is one of the most important and revered holidays in the Russian calendar. The war that killed more than 27 million Russian people, and according to some estimates, more than 29 million, did not spare a single Russian home from loss of life or injury of a family member.

In Russia, unlike in Europe, Victory Day is celebrated on May 9th. According to some sources, Stalin did not like the first signed act of surrender, and marshal Georgy Zhukov was instructed once again to accept a general surrender from representatives of all types of German armed forces in Berlin. The new Act was signed on the night of May 9, at 00.43 Moscow time. In Europe, it was still 8th of May.

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