"Praying for the fallen": screening in the Presidential Library devoted to the defenders of besieged Leningrad

On July 20, 2022 the Presidential Library hosted a screening and discussion of the documentary "Praying for the Fallen". The film tells about the memorial church of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia, which is dedicated to the dead and missing during the defence of Leningrad from the Nazi invaders. The film was shot by the film group of the Presidential Library directed by Tatyana Dyakonova.

The event took place on the day of the 80th anniversary of the launch of the Staro-Panovskaya operation. In the summer of 1942, the Nazis were preparing a new assault on Leningrad, but our troops put up strong resistance. From July 20 to August 2, 1942, the command of the Leningrad Front on the Uritsky line (today this territory belongs to the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg) carried out the Staro-Panovskaya operation to break through the siege ring. Thousands of Soviet soldiers died and disappeared here these days...

The liberation of the village of Staro-Panovo became possible in January 1944. Our troops made 9 attempts at this line, but only on the tenth attempt, at the cost of colossal losses, they managed to break through the enemy’s defence line and go on the offensive. By this time there was not a single whole house left. Among other things, the church of the patron saints of Christian marriage, the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia, built in the 19th century, was destroyed.

The revival of the temple began in 1993. And although the new church is not an architectural review of the destroyed one, it took on the name of the former church of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia.

One of the important aspects of the activity of the parish is the preservation of the memory of the defenders of the city. In the temple they collect information about the dead and missing on the Leningrad front: photographs, documents, letters, memories of relatives. The memorial complex of Staro-Panovo includes various memorial places and signs - a stone in honor of the feat of heroes of various nationalities, the DOT museum, a memorial military burial and others. Around the temple there is a Park of Military Glory.

The curator of the DOT Museum of Military Glory Irina Vladimirovna Minina, as well as film director Tatyana Dyakonova took part in the discussion of the film "Praying for the Fallen" at the Presidential Library’s cinema club meeting.

The video recording of the event is available on the institution’s Rutube-channel.