Penza, 27 January 2015. PenzaNews. Officials, veterans, public organizations, as well as school and university students, honored the memory of the heroes of the Siege of Leningrad at the honorary monument on Zapadnaya Polyana.

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The event, held on Tuesday, January 27, was timed to coincide with the 71st anniversary of the end of the siege.

Among the officials who attended the event were Ivan Belozertsev, chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region; Alexei Ryabov, first deputy chairman of the regional government; Roman Petrukhin, deputy chairman of the City Duma; Viktor Gvozdev, first vice-mayor; and and other officials.

Those present were addressed by the WWII veteran Vladimir Kerkhanadzhev, chairman of the city veteran council.

“I welcome the participants of Defense Forces, and soldiers of the Leningrad Front – there are 73 of them in our city. The siege lasted 900 never-ending days. In January 1943, the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts broke the line, and in 1944 the siege of Leningrad was finally reversed. Today we honor the heroes, their feat, courage and perseverance that have no equals,” he said.

The event ended with a minute’s silence, after which those present laid flowers and wreaths at the monument “To the Heroes of Besieged Leningrad.”