The breach of the siege of Leningrad. 1943

January 12, 1943 was the start of operation "Iskra" – the Volkhov and Leningrad front lines started advancing towards the enemy. The main task of the advance was the breach of blockade of Leningrad. The actions of the army were supported by the Red Banner Baltic fleet. The artillery of the shore and ship mounts, the bombing and assault air forces attacked the permanent positions of the enemy. The advance started with a massive artillery preparation which lasted around two hours. The fierce battles to the south of Lake Ladoga lasted for seven days. On January 18 the soldiers of the 372nd artillery division of the Volkhov front and the soldiers of the 123rd artillery brigage of the Leningrad front line met at the east side of Workers' village No. 1. The siege of Leningrad was broken.

The materials of the exposition tell about the combat actions of the armies that took part in the breach of the blockade. You can see the captured weapons and the items of uniform of the German army that were captured from the enemy during operation "Iskra". The personal articles of the people who took part in the breach of the blockade tell about their exploits. The 136th artillery division commanded by major general N. P. Simonyak was reformed into the 63rd guard division for their heroism, valour and bravery shown during operation "Iskra", and their commanded was granted the title of a Hero of the Soviet Union. The division that was later reformed into a corps took part in all major operation at the most significant parts of the front line. N. P. Simonyak was called "the general of the breach". The exposition shows the service cap and shoulder signs of the hero.

A big contribution to the defense of Leningrad, the communication on Ladoga and the breach of the siege was made by the Soviet air forces. The exposition shows models of a destroyer, an assault plane, a bomber plane, aviation tools and weapons. Among the aviation articles you can see a control panel from the cabin of the destroyer of colonel P. V. Kondratyev. The 3rd guard destroyer air force regiment under the command of colonel P. V. Kondratyev shot down 55 German planes in air fights. The Hero of the Soviet Union P. V. Kondratyev died on June 1, 1943 during the battle above the gulf of Finland.