Press Release, 27.01.2020

On 27 January, the anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad in the World War 2, Yabloko leaders and activists laid flowers at the memorial in the Alexander Garden, Moscow, and commemorate victims of the war.

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov

Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, said that 27 January was of particular importance for both residents of St.Petersburg (Leningrad in the USSR period) and all residents of the country. He noted that the siege of Leningrad was “one of the most terrible crimes against humanity in our history.”

According to Rybakov, “it is necessary not only to remember history, but also to continue studying it despite the fact that the opening of archives is echoed in our society by very painful blows.” “This is a day of remembrance of the courage of our fellow citizens and a day of understanding how complicated and difficult our history is,” the Chairman of Yabloko said.

Emilia Slabunova, member of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia and member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, stressed that “the siege of Leningrad is one of the most tragic Russian pages of the Second World War, and the day the siege was lifted is one of the most important holidays associated with the victory over Nazism”. “It is very important that all those people who survived the horrors of war and the siege now live in decent conditions. This is our duty,” Slabunova said.

Photo: Kirill Goncharov, Emilia Slabunova and Nikolai Rybakov

Kirill Goncharov, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of Yabloko and the organiser of the action, said that it was necessary to remember what a huge price was paid for the victory over Nazism, “We come here every year to honor the memory of people who did not survive to this day, until the end of the war”.

Photo: Kirill Goncharov