Дорога жизни: Ленинградский прорыв блокады

Ice road used during World War II

The Road of Life (Доро́га жи́зни, doroga žizni) was the set of ice road transport routes across Lake Ladoga to Leningrad during the Second World War. They were the only Soviet winter surface routes into the city while it was besieged by the German Army Group North under Feldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. The routes operated in the winters of 1941 1942 and 1942 1943. Construction and operation were performed under German artillery and aerial bombardment. In January 1943 the Soviet's Operation Iskra broke the encirclement, and the ice roads were used in conjunction with land routes for the remainder of the winter. The routes carried supplies necessary to sustain life and resistance inside the Leningrad pocket, and evacuated non combatants, wounded, and industrial equipment. Over 1.3 million people, primarily women and children, were evacuated over the roads during the siege
The Road of Life is now a World Heritage Site.

On 8 September 1941, Army Group North captured Shlisselburg on the shores of Lake Ladoga, east of Leningrad, and took control of all land routes to Leningrad. This followed the capture of Mga, south of Shlisselburg, on 29 August which cut the city off from the Soviet railway network. The Soviets fell back onto transport by ship over Lake Ladoga and by air; the evacuation of strategic industries and personnel, and shipments of munitions from Leningrad, continued. On 16 October, the Germans launched an offensive toward Tikhvin and the last Soviet railroad from Moscow to Lake Ladoga that ran through it. Cutting the railroad precipitated the fall of Leningrad. The Soviet Leningrad Front under General Ivan Fedyuninsky launched its own offensive toward Sinyavino on 20 October to recapture Shlisselburg corridor and break the encirclement. The offensive achieved little, and was cancelled on 28 October due to the severity of the German attack. On 8 November, the Germans captured Tikhvin and reached the outskirts of Volkhov. The railroad cut was temporary; the exhausted Germans could not hold the salient in worsening weather and against increasing Soviet pressure. The slow Soviet counteroffensive began on 12 November, and by the end of December the Germans were pushed back to much where they had been before their Tikhvin offensive.

On 2 April 1942, a meeting at the Kremlin with the Anastas Mikoyan approved construction plans for an underwater fuel pipeline through Lake Ladoga to Leningrad. Piping was sourced from the Izhorsk factory in the city. The State Defense Committee ordered the Red Army to construct the pipeline on 25 April, and it entered service on 18 June. The pipeline was 35 km long and 12 m. deep, and delivered 295 tonnes of fuel per day. The city began receiving electricity from the power plant at Volkhov through an underwater cable in September 1942.

The Soviets built new ice roads for the winter of 1942 1943. The winter of 1942 1943 was milder than the last; the roads were serviceable for a shorter time as the lake froze later and thawed sooner. The road opened on 19 December and the first convoy crossed the next day. Longer truck columns were used to compensate for the limited load per truck. Thaws closed the road from 9 to 12 January, and finally on 30 March. The roads were serviceable for 101 days between 20 December and 30 March, of which only 97 were suitable for mass truck movement. Trucks moved 210,000 tonnes of supplies, mainly food and ammunition, and over 200,000 personnel and evacuees moved over the roads. The Soviets also started construction of a railroad over the ice. 15 km of track on the western edge of the lake was complete by mid January. The Soviets launched Operation Iskra in January 1943 and retook the Shlisselburg corridor. Construction of the lake railroad was abandoned. A railroad from Shlisselburg to Poliana through the recaptured land route began construction on 21 January and opened on 6 February; it became the main supply route to the city. The ice roads remained operational for the remainder of the winter as reliable alternatives to the railroad. Retaking the Shlisselburg corridor prevented the Germans artillery from bombarding the ice road, although ineffective air attacks continued. The new railroad drew heavy German artillery fire and required frequent repairs.

When the roads opened for the winter of 1941 1942, Leningrad Front deployed an elaborate organization onto the ice to manage and support traffic, which included road guides, communications points, road service commandant posts, medical and rescue service points, feeding points, and combat security posts. Leningrad Front's Road Commandant Service maintained traffic control posts along the ice roads. Traffic regulators controlled vehicle movement, monitored ice conditions, marked the routes with blackout lanterns, and warned drivers of obstructions or accidents ahead; regulators contributed significantly to the roads' success. Initially, there were 20 posts at 300 400 metre intervals. By 1 January 1942, there were 75 posts, 350 traffic regulators, and 150 300 blackout lanterns. Later, settling weather and high snow walls flanking the roads made control easier, allowing the interval between posts to increase to 1 2 km. Soviet forces defended the ice roads, connecting land routes, and other road related infrastructure.

In the summer, with the start of the navigable period, deliveries to the city continued thanks to the Ladoga Military Flotilla. In 1943 the Road of Life was replaced by the – a railway, laid on the narrow path conquered during operation Iskra from Leningrad to Volkhov. Now the Road of Life, within the limits of Saint Petersburg, is often referred to as Ryabovskoe Highway, but within Vsevolozhsk, the Road of Life is the official name.

The Road of Life is commemorated by seven monuments and 46 memorial poles along the road, and 56 memorial poles along the railway; all are part of the Green Belt of Glory (Зелёный пояс славы). The memorial complex "The Flower of Life" ("Цветок жизни"), at the 3rd km of the Road of Life, consists of a monument, erected in 1968, by the architects A. D. Levyenkov and P. I. Melnikov, and eight tablets (representing pages from the diary of the Leningrad schoolgirl Tanya Savicheva), erected in 1975 by the architects A. D. Levyenkov and G. G. Fetisov, and the engineer M. V. Koman. The "Rumbolovsk Hill" ("Румболовская гора") memorial complex, at the 10th km, in Vsevolozhsk, erected by the architects P. F. Kozlov and V. N. Polukhin. It consists of metallic oak and laurel leaves, symbolising life and glory, and a tablet with a verse by the poet Olga Berggolts. The "Katyusha" ("Катюша") monument, at the 17th km, near the village of Kornevo, erected in 1966 by the architects A. D. Levyenkov, P. I. Melnikov, L. V. Chulkevich and the designers G. I. Ivanov and L. V. Izyurov. Fifty six memorial kilometre posts along the Finland Station – Lake Ladoga railway line. Erected 1970 by the architects M. N. Meisel' and I. G. Yavein. Forty six memorial kilometre posts on the highway from Rzhevka railway station, on the edge of Saint Petersburg, to Lake Ladoga. Erected in 1967 by the architect M. N. Meisel'. A memorial consisting of a steam locomotive, which had operated on the Road of Life, erected at the station Lake Ladoga in 1974 by the architect V. I. Kuznetsov. The memorial complex "), at the 40th km of the Road of Life, on the shore of Lake Ladoga near the village of Kokkorevo. Consists of a statue of an anti aircraft cannon (1966, sculptor Konstantin Simun, architect V. G. Fillipov, engineer I. A. Rybin). "The Crossing" ("Переправа") monument, near the hamlet of Morozova, dedicated to the memory of the soldier pontooneers (1970, architect L. M. Drexler, engineer E. N. Lutsko). The "Steel Way" ("Стальной путь") plaque in the Petrokrepost railway station, dedicated to the memory of the heroic railway workers on the Road of Life (1972, architects N. M. Meisel' and I. G. Yavein, sculptor G. D. Glinman). On the same site stands a memorial steam locomotive (1975). The "Kobona" ("Кобона") plaque in the hamlet of Kobona, dedicated to the Road of Life (1964, architects M. N. Meisel'. A. A. Yakovlev). The memorial automobile "The Legendary One and a Half Tonne" ("Легендарная полуторка") at the 103rd km of the Petrozavodsk highway, at the turn off for Voibokalo (1974, architect A. D. Levyenkov, artist V. V. Fomyenko). The "Voibokalo" ("Войбокало") plaque at the Voibokalo railway station, commemorating the Road of Life (1975, architect S. S. Natonin).