Soviet troops pictured during a charge near Leningrad on January 1st, 1943, as their attempts to break the German siege of the city were becoming increasingly vigorous.
The soldier in the foreground is holding a PPD-40 submachine gun.
The blockade and encirclement of Leningrad was one of the longest and most horrific sieges in history, lasting 872 days between September 8th 1941 and January 27th 1944, when the weakened Axis forces were expelled by the Soviet Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive after a two week battle.
Book suggestion ⤵️
📖 The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad (Harrison E. Salisbury, 1969)
Photo sources: Vsevolod Tarasevich (photographer), Russian International News Agency