Today, 29 January, delegations are returning home to their countries of residence.
In total, 88 compatriots from 19 countries took part in the events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade, including residents of the besieged Leningrad, two participants in the defense of Leningrad (currently living in Bulgaria and the United States) and their attendants. 120 blockades from 42 Russian regions also took part in the events in St. Petersburg.
Geography of the countries from which the delegations came: Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, USA, Uzbekistan, Ukraine.
The blockade, living abroad, together with all St. Petersburg residents took part in the solemn funeral ceremony of laying wreaths and flowers at the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery, became spectators of the Parade of troops of the St. Petersburg territorial garrison on Palace square and the festive concert "Listen, country, says Leningrad!"in the concert hall "October", dedicated to the anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad.
At the same time, as compatriots are particularly keenly aware of the remoteness from the homeland, at their request, an additional excursion program was organized. The veterans visited the historical Park "Russia – my story", the Museum "Lenrezerv" and had a sightseeing tour of Saint Petersburg.
During the final evening, the compatriots were awarded commemorative signs " in honor of the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade."
The Chairman of the Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg Evgeny Grigoriev addressed the participants. He congratulated everyone on the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade. "For each of Leningrad, St Petersburg is truly the most important day of the year – the day which we proudly call the Leningrad Victory Day" - said E. D. Grigoriev.
Traditionally, the participants made a speech. Thus, Emilia Larina, a compatriot from Israel, presented a collection of memories of the "Blockade memory of the page". The book includes 52 stories of the siege of that terrible time. She emphasized the importance of preserving fathers ' memories so that the memory of the blockade would never weaken.
The issues of distortion of history and attempts to rewrite the results of the war are also of great concern to compatriots living in Estonia. This topic was raised in his speech, in particular, by Hanon drummer, a resident of the besieged Leningrad, currently living in Tallinn. He said that he sees a big role in preventing speculation with history in educational work with young people, meetings of blockade with young people and sincere conversations.
As part of the cultural program of the evening, a concert with the performance of military, Russian folk and Soviet pop songs, as well as choreographic numbers was presented to the attention of compatriots. They read poems by Olga Bergholz, Boris Pasternak, Vitaly Shvedov. Veterans read works of their own composition.
Additionally:
Also, commemorative events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade are held in other cities and countries, in particular, in Simferopol (Republic of Crimea), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Beijing and Shanghai. Events are planned in Berlin, Hamburg (Germany), Washington, St. Petersburg (USA), Tallinn, Narva (Estonia), Riga, Daugavpils (Latvia), Minsk (Belarus).
The plot of the final evening on the TV channel " St. Petersburg": https://topspb.tv/news/2019/01/28/blokadnikam-prozhivayushim-za-rubezhom-vruchili-pochetnye-znaki-v-chest-75-letiya-osvobozhdeniya-leningrada-ot-blokady/