Putin has submitted to the State Duma a bill declaring August 9 the Day of Military Glory of Russia

      Recall that yesterday, on March 11, we wrote that the chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin sent to the relevant Committee on Defense a bill to establish August 9 — the day of the end of the Leningrad Battle — the Day of Military Glory of Russia. Today it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted this bill to the State Duma. The explanatory note says: "The recognition of August 9 as the day of military glory of Russia will emphasize the military-strategic importance of the Leningrad Battle as the longest battle of the Great Patriotic War and perpetuate the feat of the defenders of Leningrad."

      The document published on the website of the lower house also says that on August 9, 1944, the commander of the Karelian Front, Soviet military commander Kirill Meretskov, signed an order to end the offensive during the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation — "the final victorious chord of the Leningrad Battle." As a result, the "Finnish blockade link" was eliminated, Karelia, Leningrad, Pskov and Novgorod regions were liberated, and the threat to Leningrad was removed.