CIS MPs Honored Memory of Victims of Blockade and Soldiers who Defended Leningrad

A solemn funeral ceremony dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War was held at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

The ceremony was attended by heads of parliaments, deputies and senators of the Commonwealth countries, representatives of international parliamentary organizations, and the administration of St. Petersburg.

The procession was led by Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sagiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalia Kochanova, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev, Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurlanbek Shakiev, Speaker of the Majlisi Milli of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Rustami Emomali,  Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva.

The ceremony was also attended by Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of Mazhilis of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aigul Kuspan, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov, Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy.

Piskarevskoye cemetery is a symbol of heroism and fortitude. 420 thousand Leningraders who died of hunger, cold, disease, bombing and shelling, and 70 thousand soldiers who defended the city are buried here. This place has become an eternal reminder of the unparalleled courage and the price paid for freedom and the future.

The participants of the ceremony observed a minute of silence in memory of hundreds of thousands of victims of the Leningrad blockade, as well as defenders of the besieged city, and laid flowers at the foot of the Mother Motherland monument.