The
Siege of Leningrad, also known as the
Leningrad Blockade (,
transliteration:
blokada Leningrada) was a prolonged military
blockade undertaken mainly by the German
Army Group North against Leningrad, historically and currently known as
Saint Petersburg, in the
Eastern Front theatre of
World War II. The siege started on 8 September 1941, when the last road to the city was severed. Although the Soviets managed to open a narrow land corridor to the city on 18 January 1943, the siege was finally lifted on 27 January 1944, 872 days after it began. It was one of the longest and most destructive
sieges in history and possibly the costliest in terms of casualties.