Russia reiterates demand to Germany over Nazi crimes

Time is running short for Berlin to ensure justice for non-Jewish survivors of the siege of Leningrad, Moscow has warned

Russia has criticized Germany for refusing to recognize the siege of Leningrad and other Nazi atrocities as genocide and its selective treatment of survivors.

Moscow and Berlin have long disagreed over Germany’s approach, which provides compensation only to Jewish survivors of the siege – a policy Russia says disregards the suffering of other ethnic groups. The Russian Embassy in Berlin renewed its call for a policy change ahead of Tuesday’s anniversary of the lifting of the Leningrad blockade.

“We strongly urge the German side, which bears the indefinite historic responsibility for the atrocities of the Nazi regime, to recognize the siege of Leningrad and other crimes of the Third Reich and their accomplices as genocide of the peoples of the USSR,” the embassy said in a statement.

“Time is running short to make amends as the number of Leningrad survivors is dwindling,” it added.

READ MORE: Russians celebrate 83rd anniversary of end of Leningrad siege

The nearly 900-day military blockade of Leningrad – now St. Petersburg – was carried out by German and Finnish forces, with Italian naval support. The Axis plan was to bomb and starve the city rather than capture it.

For most of the siege, supplies could only reach the city by air or across Lake Ladoga. The Soviet Union suffered roughly 1.5 million military and 1 million civilian casualties related to the battle for Leningrad before Axis forces were driven back in 1944.