Memory of Russia: Marking the 80th anniversary of the Shlisselburg landing operation the Rumyantsev Mansion in St. Petersburg presented "Hot Ice of Ladoga" section of the permanent exposition

The Rumyantsev Mansion (St. Petersburg) presents a new section "Hot Ice of Ladoga" of the exposition "Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War". It spotlights the history of the Shlisselburg landing operation.

Attempts to break through the Siege of Leningrad are one of the most tragic pages of the city's defence. Straight from the first days of the establishment of the Siege ring, the Red Army tried to break through to Leningrad. Two significant breakthrough attempts took place in September and October 1941. Fierce battles were on the territory near the Southern Ladoga. The Leningrad Front and the 54th Army did their best to break the Siege. Since November 1941, the most intense struggle was inside the Siege ring. The front forces made incredible efforts to break through to the east.

The Shlisselburg landing operation on November 28-29, 1941, is one of the little known attempts to break through. Its history interconnected the fates of the naval infantry skiers, the Leningrad People's Militia, the hydrographers of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and members of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front and also Vasily Margelov, the future commander of the Airborne Forces. V. V. Shagin, the descendant of one of the participants in the operation, decided to learn about the milestones in his grandfather's life. Together with the historian V. A. Mosunov, he managed to revive the tragic history of the Shlisselburg landing operation.

Now, the story of this struggle is part of the permanent exhibition of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg in the Rumyantsev Mansion, devoted to the defence and Siege of Leningrad.

The relevant exhibition section displays documents, fragments of uniforms and personal belongings of soldiers - participants in the attempt to break the Siege on November 28-29, 1941. Most of the items are finds discovered by search teams at the battle site near the village of Lipki in the vicinity of Shlisselburg. The exposition showcases skis with ski poles, a fragment of the naval jacket, naval and infantry buckles, flasks, spoons with engraved names and initials of the owners, Andrianov's wrist compass, the Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR badge of the 1st level, a device for transporting goods on ice and snow and other finds.