The bitterness of war: 17 photos of besieged Leningrad

As the heiress of the French aristocrats, she defended besieged Leningrad and painted sketches on the virgin lands: Irina Vitman

The fate of the Soviet artist Irina Vitman is full of contrasts. Childhood spent in bohemian Paris - and the defense of besieged Leningrad. Dreams of conquering the Arctic, traveling the world - and twenty years of a happy life in a deep province. And also - constant artistic experiments behind the screen of socialist realism. Irina Vitman did not rebel, did not go underground and did not create a new Soviet avant-garde, just as she was not a "socialist realist" artist. She just lived by painting

Muse of besieged Leningrad: the tragic fate of the poetess Olga Berggolts

May 16 marks the 108th birthday of the famous Soviet poetess Olga Berggolts. She was called "the besieged Madonna" and "the muse of besieged Leningrad", since during the Second World War she worked in the House of Radio, and her voice in many instilled hope and faith in salvation. She owns the lines carved on the granite of the Piskarevsky memorial: "Nobody is forgotten, and nothing is forgotten." The poetess had a chance to survive the death of loved ones, repression, blockade, war and die in peacetime, in complete loneliness and oblivion

Documentary photographs from besieged Leningrad and today chilling blood

The troops of Nazi Germany took the Soviet city of Leningrad into a blockade for 872 days - from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. Residents of the city and soldiers fought sparing no effort. The military losses during the defense and liberation of the city amounted to about half a million people, over 600 thousand Leningraders died of hunger. Today, it is simply impossible to look at photographs of that time without shuddering. It's hard to imagine how people were able to survive this terrible time

The comedy about the besieged Leningrad from the laureate of "Nika" caused a wave of indignation even before the release of the screens

For 2019, director Alexei Krasovsky has scheduled the release of a feature film entitled "Holiday". The film is dedicated to the besieged Leningrad. It has not come out yet, but in the State Duma it was called blasphemy

Lyudmila Savelyeva: the best Natasha Rostova comes from besieged Leningrad

Director Sergei Bondarchuk long doubted which of the actresses to approve for the role of Natasha Rostova in the film "War and Peace". Ballerina Lyudmila Savelyeva seemed to him not the best contender: inexpressive appearance, unsuccessful auditions, lack of experience in filming. But later he did not regret his choice - the whole world fell in love with Lyudmila Savelyeva, she was recognized as the best actress who embodied the image of Natasha Rostova on the screen