Breakthrough 18. Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad: The troops attacked the Nazis head-on, there was no room for maneuver. The enemy will be defeated - victory will be ours

January 18, especially, is a special date for St. Petersburg residents. On this day back in 1943, during the Great Patriotic War, the blockade of Leningrad was broken. Despite the fact that the city remained besieged for another year, with the breaking of the blockade the situation on the entire Leningrad Front improved significantly. According to the plans of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Soviet troops, with attacks from two fronts - Leningrad from the west and Volkhov from the east - were supposed to defeat the enemy group holding the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge.

Command of the fronts was entrusted to Lieutenant General L.A. Govorov and Army General K.A. Meretskov. The interaction was coordinated by representatives of the Headquarters - Army General G.K. Zhukov and Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. On January 12, 1943, after artillery preparation, which began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted 2:10 a.m., the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front launched a powerful attack from west to east.

The offensive was supported by the 2nd shock and 8th armies of the Volkhov Front, ships, coastal artillery and aviation. Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, by the end of January 13, the distance between the armies was reduced to 5-6 kilometers, and on January 14 - to two kilometers. The command of the fascist German troops, trying to hold Workers' Villages No. 1 and 5 at any cost, transferred its units from other sectors of the front. The enemy group unsuccessfully tried several times to break through to the south to its main forces.

And 6 days later, on January 18, on the outskirts of Rabochy settlement No. 1 near Shlisselburg, units of the 123rd Infantry Brigade of the Leningrad Front joined forces with units of the 372nd Division of the Volkhov Front. On the same day, Shlisselburg and the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga were completely liberated.

Around midnight, a message was broadcast on the radio that the blockade had been broken. The townspeople began to take to the streets, shouting and cheering. All Leningrad was decorated with flags. There was hope that their hometown would be liberated. And although the blockade ring was completely lifted only on January 27, 1944, and as a result of breaking the blockade ring, only a narrow corridor was recaptured - a strip of peat bog, the significance of this day for the future fate of Leningrad can hardly be overestimated. A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide, punched along the coast from the Volkhov Front to Shlisselburg, restored the land connection between Leningrad and the country. Construction of the Shlisselburg-Polyany railway, 36 km long, began along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. On February 6, trains began traveling along the new “Road of Life” to Leningrad. The first, main step towards the liberation of Leningrad had been taken.

On January 18, 1943, during the operation of Soviet troops codenamed “Iskra,” the blockade of Leningrad was broken in the area of ​​Workers’ Village No. 1 near Shlisselburg.

During Operation Iskra (in the German version Zweite Ladoga-Schlacht - Second Battle of Lake Ladoga), offensive actions of Soviet troops were carried out in the Leningrad direction from January 12 to January 30, 1943. The operation was carried out by the forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts with the assistance of part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga military flotilla and long-range aviation with the aim of breaking the blockade of Leningrad.

The assigned task during the operation was completed. Despite the fact that the city remained under enemy siege for another whole year, with the breaking of the blockade, the supply of the northern capital significantly improved. The situation on the entire Leningrad Front also changed significantly - the German Army Group North finally lost its strategic initiative.

According to the plans of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Soviet troops, with attacks from two fronts - Leningrad from the west and Volkhov from the east - were supposed to defeat the enemy group holding the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge. Command of the fronts was entrusted to Lieutenant General L.A. Govorov and Army General K.A. Meretskov. The interaction was coordinated by representatives of the Headquarters - Army General G.K. Zhukov and Marshal K.E. Voroshilov.

On January 12, 1943, after artillery preparation, which began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted 2:10 a.m., the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front launched a powerful attack from west to east. The offensive was supported by the 2nd shock and 8th armies of the Volkhov Front, ships, coastal artillery and aviation. Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, by the end of January 13, the distance between the armies was reduced to 5-6 kilometers, and on January 14 - to two kilometers. The command of the fascist German troops, trying to hold Workers' Villages No. 1 and 5 at any cost, transferred its units from other sectors of the front. The enemy group unsuccessfully tried several times to break through to the south to its main forces.

On January 18, 1943, after bloody offensive battles, on the outskirts of Rabochy settlement No. 1 near Shlisselburg, units of the 123rd Infantry Brigade of the Leningrad Front united with units of the 372nd Division of the Volkhov Front. On the same day, Shlisselburg and the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga were completely liberated. The blockade of Leningrad was broken.

By this time, about 800 thousand people remained in the city. Around midnight, a message was broadcast on the radio that the blockade had been broken. The townspeople began to take to the streets, shouting and cheering. All Leningrad was decorated with flags. There was hope that their hometown would be liberated. And although the blockade ring was completely lifted only on January 27, 1944, and as a result of breaking the blockade ring, only a narrow corridor was recaptured - a strip of peat bog, the significance of this day for the future fate of Leningrad can hardly be overestimated.

A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide, punched along the coast from the Volkhov Front to Shlisselburg, restored the land connection between Leningrad and the country. Construction of the Shlisselburg-Polyany railway, 36 km long, began along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. On February 6, trains began traveling along the new “Road of Life” to Leningrad. The first, main step towards the liberation of Leningrad had been taken.

St. Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, now St. Petersburg again - this city, even now considered the second capital of Russia, has had a special significance in the fate of our state since its founding in 1703. Initially it was a “window to Europe”, then the “cradle of the revolution”, even having lost its capital status and received his name after Lenin’s death, the city remained a symbol of statehood. And surrendering it to the enemy meant the beginning of global defeat. During the Great Patriotic War, the city, which found itself under a blockade by the Nazi invaders, held out to the last. He held on and survived. Poems and songs are dedicated to the courage and heroism of the defenders of Leningrad. The city was supported not only by the front line, but also by the inhabitants themselves, who, under the blockade, survived on crumbs of bread, but at the same time produced weapons and ammunition for the front. Then, in the harsh years of 1942-43, the country knew that Leningrad was holding out, which meant that we would hold out too. On January 18, 1943, the blockade was broken - the city was given communication with the mainland. There was still a whole year left before complete liberation.

“During the war, our family’s house in the village of Ust-Izhora stood 5 kilometers from the front line, where the heroic defenders of Leningrad held their defense,” says military historian Alexander Zimovsky. - The house has survived to this day, and back in the late 60s, many fragments from German mines and shells were found in the gardens. One of my relatives fought in the 72nd separate division of armored trains; they acted against the Germans in the area of ​​the Ligovo railway station (which was on the front line on “their” side of the front). Therefore, breaking the blockade of Leningrad for me is not just a calendar date. This is an incredibly emotionally rich layer of world, Soviet and Russian military history.”

In Soviet times, all children born in Leningrad received a personal birth certificate on which it was written: “Born in Leningrad.” This, of course, is the merit of those people who survived the blockade, those who participated in the hardest battles, including those associated with the liberation of the city.

“Hitler was maniacally obsessed with Leningrad, or rather with its destruction,” continues Alexander Zimovsky. “In 1942, he removed Field Marshal Manstein’s 11th Field Army from the south and transferred it to Leningrad. Chief of the General Staff Halder objects because he believes that Stalingrad is more important, and after a few weeks Hitler removes him from all posts.

Manstein arrives for reconnaissance on the line of contact between Nazi and Soviet troops. It was in the Kolpino area. And at a line of sight distance, without any binoculars, he observes the smoking chimneys of the Izhora plant. After the capture of Sevastopol, he planned to begin the assault on Leningrad on September 1, but within a few days the troops under his command were drawn into difficult defensive battles. There was another attempt by the Red Army to break the blockade of Leningrad. She was not successful, but the idea of ​​taking Leningrad by storm was finally buried. From that moment on, not a single genius of German military planning, until the end of the war, set himself the task of a simultaneous offensive on two or more sectors of the Eastern Front. Leningrad front-line soldiers joked evilly: “In 1941, they failed to break the blockade, but they distracted the Germans from Moscow. They didn’t break through in 1942, but they spared Leningrad from the assault.” The mood was such that it was no longer possible to delay breaking the blockade. And failure simply could not happen: there is a limit for a person; it was crossed more than once by both residents and defenders of the city. The Germans began strengthening their defensive structures, as well. This was Operation Iskra.
As always happened at turning points of the war, Stalin entrusted Zhukov with the leadership of Iskra. In general, all military commanders and memoirists agree that no more than 15 people were involved in the plan of the operation before it began. Even in his correspondence with Churchill, Stalin did not allow himself a single hint about the powerful relief strike planned near Leningrad. On January 12, at 9:30 a.m., two thousand Soviet guns hit the front line of the Nazis. For two hours and twenty minutes, the Soviet artillery of the Leningrad Front conducted continuous fire along the left bank of the Neva. Then soldiers from four first-echelon divisions launched an attack across the Neva ice. The infantry was supported by light tanks and armored vehicles.
On January 16, Stalin called Govorov (commander of the Leningrad Front) inquired about the progress of the operation and instructed to take Shlisselburg no later than by the end of the next day. On January 18, soldiers of the Eighty-sixth Rifle Division (aka the 4th Leningrad Rifle Division of the People's Militia) raised the Red Banner over Shlisselburg. 6 days after the start, Operation Iskra ended. The blockade ring was broken, now a ten-kilometer corridor led to Leningrad, completely controlled by the Red Army. It was the second year of the war. There were still a little more than 12 months left before the blockade was completely lifted.
The operation to break the blockade of Leningrad began on January 12, 1943. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command began the operation with a massive air bomb attack and artillery escort. The main fighting took place in the area of ​​the Nevsky “patch”, where the offensive did not develop very successfully. The 45th Guards Division, with the support of a tank battalion, managed to advance no more than half a kilometer. All tanks were lost during the crossing of the Neva. The attack was thwarted. The troops were transported to the line in the Maryino region, with the task of attacking Shlisselburg from the south, which led to the success of the operation. The official date for breaking the blockade of Leningrad is considered to be January 18, 1943, but fierce battles on sections of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts continued throughout the entire month. Then it was possible to restore railway communication with the besieged city, but it took another year of fierce fighting in this direction before Leningrad was completely unblocked.

On January 18, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken. There was a year left until the blockade was completely lifted...

By the end of 1942, the situation near Leningrad continued to be difficult: the troops of the Leningrad Front and the Baltic Fleet were isolated, and there was no land connection between the city and the “Big Land”. During 1942, the Red Army twice attempted to relieve the city. However, both the Lyuban and Sinyavin offensive operations were unsuccessful. The area between the southern coast of Lake Ladoga and the village of Mga (the so-called “Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge”), where the distance between the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts was the shortest (12-16 km), was still occupied by units of the German 18th Army.
On November 18, 1942, the command of the Leningrad Front presented its proposals to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for preparing a new offensive near Leningrad. During the “Shlisselburg Operation” in December 1942, it was planned, together with the Volkhov Front, to “lift the blockade from Leningrad” and “ensure the construction of a railway along the Ladoga Canal,” and during the “Uritsk Operation” in February 1943, to restore land communications with Oranienbaum bridgehead.
After studying the proposed plan by the Supreme High Command Headquarters, it was decided to abandon the “Uritsk operation”, and the plan for the “Shlisselburg operation” was approved by directive No. 170696 of December 2, 1942. The operation was given the code name "Iskra" and a readiness date was set for it - January 1, 1943.
The offensive plan was outlined in more detail in Directive No. 170703 of the Supreme Command Headquarters of December 8. The troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were instructed to “defeat the enemy grouping in the area of ​​Lipka, Gaitolovo, Moskovskaya Dubrovka, Shlisselburg and thus break the siege of Leningrad” and by the end of January 1943, complete the operation and reach the Moika-Mikhailovsky-Tortolovo river line. In addition, the directive spoke about the preparation and conduct of the “Mga Operation” in the first half of February with the goal of defeating “the enemy in the Mga area and clearing the Kirov railway. roads with access to the Voronovo-Sigolovo-Voitolovo-Voskresenskoye line.”
Thus, even at the planning stage, the Soviet command planned to conduct the operation in two stages. If at the first stage of the offensive the task was to break the blockade of Leningrad, then at the second stage of the operation in February it was supposed to defeat the enemy group in the Mga area and ensure a strong railway connection between Leningrad and the country.

Almost a month was allotted for the preparation of the operation, during which the troops began comprehensive preparations for the upcoming offensive.
Particular attention was paid to organizing interaction between strike groups, for which the command and headquarters of the two fronts coordinated their plans, established demarcation lines and worked out interactions, conducting a series of war games based on the real situation. It was decided that if the troops of one of the fronts fail to reach the line planned for them, then the troops of the other will not stop advancing, but continue to move towards them.
Since the Soviet troops had no experience in overcoming the enemy’s layered defense, a special place in the training was occupied by the training of formations in offensive operations in wooded and swampy areas and the assault on fortified enemy positions, for which training fields and special towns were created in the rear. The commander of the Leningrad Front, L.A. Govorov, alternately led units and units from the front line to the second echelon for the purpose of conducting training on offensive topics. In addition, troops of the 67th Army practiced crossing the Neva on ice within the city limits and establishing crossings for heavy artillery and tanks.
The commander of the Leningrad Front developed methods and principles for the use of artillery in the upcoming operation. By decision of L.A. Govorov, artillery groups were formed: long-range, special purpose, counter-mortar. Guards mortar units were consolidated into a separate group. By the beginning of the operation, thanks to reconnaissance efforts, the Soviet command had a fairly detailed understanding of the enemy’s defenses, and at the same time, they managed to hide the direction of the main attack from the enemy.
At the end of December, due to a thaw, the ice on the Neva was not strong enough and the swamps were impassable, therefore, agreeing with the proposal of the commander of the Leningrad Front, the Supreme High Command Headquarters postponed the start of the operation to January 12, 1943.

For the offensive, strike groups of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were formed, which were significantly reinforced by artillery, tank and engineering formations, including from the reserve of the Supreme High Command Headquarters. The Leningrad Front received one rifle division, 4 rifle brigades, as well as an anti-aircraft artillery division, and the Volkhov Front received 5 rifle divisions, 3 rifle and ski brigades and one engineer brigade.
In total, the strike groups of the two fronts numbered 302,800 soldiers and officers, about 4,900 guns and mortars (76 mm caliber and above), more than 600 tanks and 809 aircraft.
Soviet troops had more than five times superiority over the enemy in forces and means and were well provided materially for conducting long-term combat operations.
The basis of the strike group of the Leningrad Front was the 67th Army, built in two echelons before the offensive. The first echelon consisted of the 45th Guards, 268th, 136th, 86th Rifle Divisions, 61st Tank Brigade, 86th and 118th Separate Tank Battalions. The second echelon consisted of the 13th, 123rd rifle divisions, 102nd, 123rd, 142nd rifle brigades, and the army reserve - 152nd and 220th tank brigades, 46th rifle division, 11th , 55th, 138th rifle, 34th and 35th ski brigades.
The offensive was supported by artillery of the army, front and Baltic Fleet - a total of about 1,870 guns and mortars and the 13th Air Army with 414 aircraft.
The shock group of the Volkhov Front consisted of the 2nd shock army, part of the forces of the 8th army.
The first echelon of the 2nd Shock Army consisted of the 128th, 372nd, 256th, 327th, 314th, 376th Rifle Divisions, 122nd Tank Brigade, 32nd Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment, 4 separate tank battalions. The second echelon included the 18th, 191st, 71st, 11th, 239th rifle divisions, 16th, 98th and 185th tank brigades. The army reserve consisted of the 147th Infantry Division, 22nd Infantry, 11th, 12th and 13th Ski Brigades.
On the left flank of the offensive, part of the forces of the 8th Army operated: the 80th, 364th Infantry Divisions, the 73rd Marine Brigade, the 25th Separate Tank Regiment and two separate tank battalions.
The offensive was supported by the artillery of the front and two armies with approximately 2,885 guns and mortars and the 14th Air Army with 395 aircraft.

On the night of January 12, Soviet bombers launched a massive attack on enemy positions in the breakthrough zone, as well as on airfields and railway junctions in the rear.
At 9:30 in the morning, simultaneously, the artillery of both fronts began artillery preparation, which continued in the offensive zone of the 67th Army for 2 hours 20 minutes, and 1 hour 45 minutes in the offensive sector of the 2nd Shock Army.
At 11:50, under the cover of the “wall of fire” and machine gun fire from the 16th fortified area, 4 divisions of the first echelon of the 67th Army began crossing the Neva. Each division was reinforced by four or five artillery and mortar regiments, an anti-tank artillery regiment and one or two engineer battalions. The attack was also supported by 147 light tanks and armored vehicles, the weight of which could withstand the ice on the Neva.
On the first day, success was achieved in the central sector thanks to the artillery preparation of the 38th Guards Mortar Regiment and the subsequent offensive by the 268th Division and the 86th Separate Tank Battalion in the area north of the 2nd Gorodok and the 136th Division and the 61st Tank Battalion brigades in the Maryino area. By the end of the day, having broken the resistance of the enemy's 170th Infantry Division, Soviet troops were able to capture a bridgehead about 6 kilometers wide and up to 3 kilometers deep on the left bank of the Neva. Immediately after this, engineering units began building a crossing in the Maryino area for medium and heavy tanks, which was completed only by January 14.
On the flanks of the 67th Army, the offensive developed less successfully. On the right flank in the area of ​​the Nevsky “patch” the 45th Guards Rifle Division and the 118th separate tank battalion operated. One regiment of the division, striking directly from the bridgehead, managed to advance only 500-600 meters and capture only the first enemy trench. The other two regiments of the division, when crossing the Neva in the area of ​​the 8th State District Power Plant, suffered heavy losses and did not achieve success, and the 118th separate tank battalion lost all its vehicles by the end of the day on January 13th. On the left flank of the general offensive in the Shlisselburg area, the 86th Infantry Division was stopped by heavy enemy fire and failed to cross the Neva. The command decided not to continue attacks in this area. The division was withdrawn to its starting line, and at the end of the day it was transported to a bridgehead captured by the 136th Infantry Division in the Maryino area, with the task of attacking Shlisselburg from the South the next day.
At 11:15, the 2nd Shock Army went on the offensive, and at 11:30, units of the 8th Army. Since the artillery was unable to suppress all the firing points, and the peat bogs turned out to be impassable even in winter, the offensive developed with great difficulty. On the right flank and in the central section of the offensive, the 128th, 372nd, 256th Infantry Divisions managed to break through the defenses of the German 227th Infantry Division and advance up to 2 kilometers forward, but the strong points of Lipka and Rabochy Settlement No. 8 could not be taken. On the left flank of the offensive, only the 327th Infantry Division achieved success, which managed to capture most of the strong point in the Kruglaya grove. The 376th Infantry Division in the area south of the Kruglaya grove, as well as the 80th, 256th Infantry Divisions and the 73rd Marine Brigade of the 8th Army did not achieve success. The defense of the units of the 1st German division was not broken and the offensive in this sector did not receive further development until the end of the operation.

On January 13-17, the fighting became protracted and fierce. The enemy put up stubborn resistance, relying on numerous defense units. To achieve the final turning point in the battle, the Soviet command began introducing second echelons of armies into battle from the second day of the operation.
In the offensive zone of the 67th Army, the advance in the direction of Workers' Village No. 5 of the 136th Infantry Division, which was assigned the main forces of the 61st Tank Brigade, was of decisive importance. To secure the flanks of the group advancing on Rabochiy settlement No. 5, on January 13, the 123rd Rifle Brigade was brought into battle in the direction of Rabochiy settlement No. 3, and in the following days - the 123rd Infantry Division and the 152nd Tank Brigade in the direction of Sinyavino and Workers' settlement No. 6. After several days of fierce fighting, the 123rd brigade managed to take Workers' settlement No. 3 and reach the outskirts of Workers' settlements No. 1 and No. 2, and the 136th division reached Workers' settlement No. 5, but could not take it on the move I could.
For several days, the 86th Infantry Division and an armored car battalion of the 61st Tank Brigade fought fiercely on the approaches to Shlisselburg. The attack on the city was also supported by the 34th Ski Brigade on the right flank and the 55th Rifle Brigade, advancing across the ice of Lake Ladoga. By the evening of January 15, Soviet units reached the outskirts of the city. The German garrison of Shlisselburg found itself in a critical situation, but continued to hold the city.
On the right flank of the 67th Army, the offensive of the 45th Guards Division in the following days was again unsuccessful, even despite the introduction of the reserves of the 45th Guards Division itself and part of the forces of the 13th Rifle Division into battle. A difficult situation also developed in the offensive sector of the 268th Infantry Division, which bypassed the 8th State District Power Plant from the north and north-east. However, Soviet artillery failed to destroy enemy firing points in this strong point, as well as in the 1st and 2nd Gorodki, which hampered the advance of both the 268th Rifle Division and the 45th Guards Division. In addition, German troops, having received reinforcements from the 5th Mountain Rifle and 96th Infantry Divisions, constantly launched violent counterattacks, including with the support of the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion in order to reach the flank, successfully advancing in the direction of the working Village no. 5 Soviet units. For several days the 268th Infantry Division had to fight heavy defensive battles and even abandon a number of conquered positions. However, the enemy never managed to reach the Neva. Having repelled German counterattacks, Soviet troops continued the offensive, but by January 20, the 268th and 123rd rifle divisions, as well as the 102nd and 142nd rifle brigades, brought into battle from reserve in this sector, only managed to block a powerful enemy stronghold in the area of ​​the 1st and 2nd Gorodki and the 8th State District Power Plant, but did not capture it. Also, during a week of fierce fighting, the 45th Guards Rifle Division did not achieve any significant results.
In the offensive zone of the 2nd Shock Army, the enemy, relying on strong points in Lipka and Workers' Villages No. 7 and No. 8, continued to resist fiercely. On January 13, despite the entry into battle of the 18th Infantry Division, the 98th Tank Brigade in the direction of Rabochiy Poselok No. 5 and the 71st Infantry Division south of the Kruglaya grove, the formations of the 2nd Shock Army were unable to achieve any significant advance. one direction. In the following days, the command of the 2nd Shock Army continued to build up the strike force mainly in the area from the Kruglaya grove to Gaitolov, bringing into battle the 11th, 191st, 239th Rifle Divisions, 13th Ski and 122nd tank brigade. However, attempts to expand the breakthrough front to the south ended with virtually no results. The only success in this direction was achieved by the 256th Infantry Division, which on January 14 managed to take Podgornaya station, Rabochy settlement No. 7 and reach the approaches to Sinyavino.
In the area of ​​Lipka, which was still held by the enemy, the 12th Ski Brigade was sent in support of the 128th Infantry Division with the task of bypassing Lipka on the ice of Lake Ladoga and attacked the enemy from the rear.
At the center of the offensive of the 2nd Shock Army, on January 15, the 372nd Division took Workers' Villages No. 8 and No. 4, and on January 17 reached Workers' Village No. 1. By this time, the 18th Infantry Division and the 98th Tank Brigade had already been there for several days fought a fierce battle on the outskirts of Workers' Village No. 5, which was also attacked from the west by the 136th Division and the 61st Tank Brigade of the 67th Army.

Breaking the blockade of Leningrad.

By January 18, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were separated by only a few kilometers. The German command, understanding the seriousness of the situation, allowed the remaining encircled units in the Shlisselburg and Lipka areas to make their way south to Sinyavino, for which the “Hüner group” had to hold Workers’ Villages No. 1 and No. 5 until the last possible opportunity.

Meeting of soldiers of the 2nd shock and 67th armies, January 18, 1943, photograph by D. Kozlov.

On January 18, 1943, at 9:30, the 1st separate rifle battalion of the 123rd separate rifle brigade of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front, led by the deputy commander for political affairs, Major Melkonyan, senior lieutenant Kalugov, sergeant Anisimov, met with units of the 372nd division of the 2nd 1st Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, led by Major Melnikov and the commander of the 440th reconnaissance company, Senior Lieutenant Ishimov, on the eastern outskirts of Workers' Village No. 1. At 10:30 they were joined by the commander of the 372nd Infantry Division, Colonel Radygin, who took further command.
On January 18, German troops launched a counterattack from the area of ​​Workers' Village No. 5 against the 136th Infantry Division to ensure a breakthrough of their encircled units. The attack was repulsed and the 136th Infantry Division, pursuing the enemy, broke into Workers' Village No. 5, where at approximately 12:00 p.m. it united with units of the 18th Infantry Division of the 2nd Shock Army. A little later on the same day, formations of the 86th Infantry Division and a battalion of armored vehicles of the 61st Tank Brigade completely cleared Shlisselburg of the enemy, and at the end of the day the advanced units of the 34th Ski Brigade established contact with the 128th Infantry Division and the 12th Ski brigade of the 2nd Shock Army, which finally took Lipki.
Thus, on January 18, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken.

On January 18, 1943, troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke the blockade of Leningrad. Although the military success achieved was quite modest (the width of the corridor connecting the city with the country was only 8 - 11 kilometers), the political, material, economic and symbolic significance of breaking the blockade cannot be overestimated. In the shortest possible time, the Polyany-Shlisselburg railway line, a highway and several bridges across the Neva were built. On February 7, the first train from the “mainland” arrived at the Finland Station. Already in mid-February, food supply standards established for other industrial centers of the country began to apply in Leningrad. All this radically improved the situation of the city residents and the troops of the Leningrad Front.
Breaking the blockade became a turning point in the battle for Leningrad. Even the theoretical possibility of an assault on Leningrad by German troops was finally removed - the initiative in the North-Western direction finally passed to the Soviet troops. In this situation, the Supreme Command Headquarters considered it possible not only to build on the success achieved and restore control over the Kirov Railway, but also to carry out an even larger-scale operation - to completely lift the blockade of Leningrad and liberate the entire Leningrad region. However, Operation Polar Star ended in failure. Soviet troops near Leningrad failed to develop the offensive, defeat the German Mginsk-Sinyavin group, ensure a strong railway connection between the city and the country, and also throw back the enemy to a distance excluding artillery shelling. It was possible to completely liberate Leningrad from the enemy blockade only in January 1944 during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation.
The total losses of Soviet troops during Operation Iskra (January 12 - 30) amounted to 115,082 (33,940 - irrevocably), while the Leningrad Front lost 41,264 people (12,320 - irretrievably), and the Volkhov Front - 73,818 people (21,620 - irreversibly). In addition, Soviet troops lost 41 tanks, 417 guns and mortars and 41 aircraft during this period.

The siege of Leningrad, and now St. Petersburg, is one of the most difficult periods in the glorious history of the city. It began on September 8, 1941 and lasted 872 days. The city was besieged on all sides by German, Finnish and Spanish troops, who were also supported by volunteers from Europe, Italy and North Africa.

It is worth noting that Leningrad was not ready for such a siege and did not have the necessary supplies for this. The only route along which food was delivered to the city was the famous Road of Life, laid along the frozen Lake Ladoga.

But the capacity of this thread connecting the city to the rear was completely insufficient. People were dying of hunger. Therefore, the command of the Soviet army decided to break the blockade.

In the fall of 1941, the first two attempts were made to break the ring of enemy forces that were squeezing the city. Unfortunately, both of them ended in failure and led to heavy losses on the part of the Soviet troops. Then, at the end of 1942, the military council of the Leningrad Front prepared plans for two offensive operations - Uritsk and Shlisselburg.

The first involved breaking the blockade and restoring land communications with the city. The second is breaking the blockade and building a railway. After much discussion, the first operation eventually had to be abandoned, and the second was renamed Operation Iskra and forever entered the history of the city.

“By joint efforts of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, defeat the enemy grouping in the area of ​​Lipka, Gaitolovo, Moscow Dubrovka, Shlisselburg and, thus, break the siege of the city of Leningrad, and complete the operation by the end of January 1943,” read the Supreme Command Headquarters directive No. 170703 dated 8 December 1942.

They prepared the operation for almost a month. Fascist troops in the breakthrough area erected super-strong defenses and improved them over the course of 16 months. At the same time, the Soviet troops had to break through it, as they say, head-on, since the combat situation excluded opportunities for maneuver. That is why a lot of time was devoted to training soldiers to quickly cross a wide water barrier in winter conditions and break through strong enemy defenses.

Having waited until January 12, when the rivers froze properly, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts attacked the fascist forces and began to break through in the direction of the village of Sinyavino, moving towards each other. Over the course of two days, overcoming desperate enemy resistance, Soviet troops were able to get closer to each other to a distance of 5 kilometers, and at sunset on the third day - up to two. By the evening of January 15, Soviet troops made their way to the outskirts of the city.

Finally, on January 18, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts met each other. The blockade was successfully broken. Nevertheless, the operation lasted until January 30, while a corridor 8-11 kilometers wide was formed along the banks of the Neva, which made it possible to restore Leningrad’s land connection with the country.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of these significant events, it is planned to open a panorama museum in the Kirovsky district of the Leningrad region. In it you can see video chronicles of attempts to break the blockade by Soviet troops and an animated film about the tragic days of the blockade. The official opening date is January 27.

And on January 18, the “Candle of Memory” event will take place in St. Petersburg. At 17:00 on the embankment of the Fontanka River, 21, candles will be lit in memory of the victims of the blockade.