The day of breaking through the naval mine blockade of Leningrad. The mine blockade has been broken! Naval mine blockade
On Tuesday, June 5, at the pier in the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after S.M. Kirov, a solemn meeting and a flower-laying ceremony took place at the memorial stele “Mineweeper Sailors” and “Memory Watch” - the launching of a wreath.
According to tradition, the event began with a formation near the memorial stele “Mineweeper Sailors”. Then came the ceremonial part. Representatives of the executive and legislative authorities of St. Petersburg and public organizations addressed the audience.
During the ceremony, baskets of flowers were laid at the memorial stele “Mineweeper Sailors” from: the government of St. Petersburg, the Legislative Assembly Northern capital, from the Main Command of the Navy and public organizations. Then a wreath in memory of the fallen minesweepers was solemnly lowered onto the waters of the Middle Nevka. The ceremony continued with a minute of silence. A guard of honor lined up.
The event in memory of the important historical event is being held in St. Petersburg for the 11th time. As noted by the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on social policy Galina Kolosova, for St. Petersburg this is one of the brightest pages in military history our city. This was a significant event for the restoration of shipping. Galina Kolosova recalled that on the anniversary of the 70th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade during the Great Patriotic War, a stele was erected at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in memory of the sailors who died while clearing the Gulf of Finland from German mines. In 2016, in St. Petersburg, a decision was made to install a monument to the “Feat of the Minesweepers of the Baltic Fleet” in Kronstadt. The customer was the Union of Shipbuilding Veterans. Currently, work is underway to raise funds for the design, manufacture and installation of the monument. In memory of an important event - the opening of passage along the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway - the date June 5, “The Day of Breaking the Naval Mine Blockade of Leningrad,” was included in the Law of St. Petersburg “On Holidays and Days of Remembrance in St. Petersburg.”
– St. Petersburg is a maritime city; it was conceived by Peter the Great primarily to provide access to the sea. The entire history of our city is inextricably linked with shipbuilding and shipping. Therefore, the situation of a sea mine blockade is the most unnatural for us, even at the moment when the blockade on land has already been lifted. Despite all the dire consequences of the Great Patriotic War, the city managed to carry out serious measures to clear mines from such a complex fairway as the Gulf of Finland in a year and a half. The professionalism of the people who did this painstaking work deserves great respect,” says Nadezhda Tikhonova, deputy head of the “A Just Russia” faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg.
For the sailors of ships and trawling crews, the war did not end on May 9, 1945. Only 1963 is considered the year of complete elimination of the mine threat in the Baltic Sea. When the war ended, the Gulf of Finland was still an area closed to ships. The clearing of the fairway from mines, which began in the fall of 1944, was completed by the beginning of June 1946. On June 5, 1946, the Hydrographic Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet notified sailors about the opening of the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time already had a connection with the Baltic Sea. Then the Leningrad seaport began operating at full capacity again.
– During any upheaval, communication facilities and transport infrastructure become the main strategic objects. During the Great Patriotic War, Leningrad suffered perhaps the most severe trials. And the connecting threads with the mainland were almost all destroyed due to the blockade. On the one hand, restoration proceeded with lightning speed (take, for example, the fact of the rapid appearance of the Road of Life), on the other hand, we still have not restored everything lost in the fight against fascism. Against this background, absolutely everything is important. Only some exploits are world famous, while others are more local. And the feat of the Soviet minesweepers was a little unlucky. The city has a date for breaking the blockade - January 18, the day of complete liberation - January 27. We also remember the tragic day – September 8th. Ask passers-by about June 5, about minesweepers, about breaking the naval mine blockade. I suspect that the percentage of those who know will not be large. But this does not mean that the date is insignificant. Leningrad has always been a seaport. It arose with the goal of Russia's access to the sea. The mined fairway deprived the city of one of the most important and historical transport threads, which violated the very idea of Peter I, shared his opinion Alexander Uryadov, deputy director for additional education and youth policy of the Maritime Technical College named after Admiral D.N. Senyavin.
Yuri Mitrofanov, deputy chairman of the Admiralty Coordination Council of public veteran organizations of the Navy, told how mine clearance took place.
They were trawling a mine. She floated up. Two sailors on a boat swam to the mine. They should have set the charge. One wrong move and that's it. Charger worked in five minutes. The sailors had to “run away” in time to avoid getting caught in the explosion. The people who did this are, of course, heroes,” said Yuri Mitrofanov.
Yuri Mitrofanov reported that in St. Petersburg the idea arose to create a naval alternative to the Yunarmiya called “Yunflot”. After all, many children already wear naval uniforms and study in maritime classes. The idea was supported by the Maritime Council under the government of St. Petersburg.
– Our idea, St. Petersburg. It found a response in the Maritime Council under the Government of St. Petersburg, and they are actively participating in it. Why don’t we have something like this, because we are the sea capital. We've been fighting for six months. This idea has been brewing for a long time. And everyone supported her,” Yuri Mitrofanov said in an interview with Sergius Chimes.
Mikhail Petukhov is a participant in combat mine sweeping. In 1951, he served in the 23rd division of the 94th brigade on the minesweeper "704" in the Tallinn direction. He carries out patriotic work among schoolchildren and cadets.
Much less is known about the exploits of the minesweepers than about other military events. About 45 thousand mines were placed in the waters of the Gulf of Finland, 500 warships were damaged. At the cost of the lives of sailors, and more than 1,300 people died, the mine clearance task was completed. During the war and post-war period 149 minesweepers and minesweepers were blown up by mines. It is necessary that as much as possible be known about this.
-We shouldn't become callous. It is unacceptable. If we don’t do this, no one will,” said Mikhail Petukhov.
In St. Petersburg, the United Council of Veterans of Protective Water Districts and Minesweepers of the Baltic Fleet was created and operates, now the Council of Veterans of the public organization of OVR formations and Navy minesweeping brigades in the mine war at sea. The workers and engineers who, during the difficult war and early post-war years, built minesweepers for clearing mines in the Baltic Sea at Leningrad shipbuilding enterprises, are united by public organization"Union of Shipbuilding Veterans".
They are trying to record and preserve the memories of veterans. Now, when a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the time of their feat, this is not an easy job. The head of the Council of Veterans of the public organization of OVR formations and Navy minesweeping brigades in the mine war at sea, Nikolai Ivanov, wrote the books: “Book of Memory of the Heroes of the Mine War in the Baltic” and “Chronicle of the Mine War in the Baltic: Day by Day.”
“...The horned death is blocking the passage!”
“There on the left side,
There on the right along the way
Interferes with passage
Horned Death!
As they say, you can’t erase the words from this wonderful song by Vysotsky. And all this can be attributed to the mine blockade of the Gulf of Finland during the Great Patriotic War.
We all know that on January 19, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken, and on January 27, 1944, the Nazis were driven back from the city walls. But the blockade from the sea remained; all the waters of the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn to Kronstadt were stuffed with sea mines, which were laid by German, Finnish and our troops. But there were also mines left over from the First World War and Civil War. Through the efforts of maritime specialists, the Gulf of Finland was completely blocked for the navigation of maritime, military and commercial vessels and ships. And only heroic submariners, using paths only known to them, managed to go out into the Baltic Sea to carry out combat missions. Although, among submariners there were cases of mine explosions.
After the liberation of Leningrad, Stalin was given the task: to open the Great Ship Fairway by June 1, 1946, i.e. make it safe for ships to pass from Kronstadt to Tallinn. Through the efforts of our sailors, the sea canal from Kronstadt to Leningrad was protected from mining by continuous patrolling and preventing the Nazis from installing mines in the waters of the shipping canal. The Germans failed to interrupt communication between Kronstadt and Leningrad, and throughout the war there was an uninterrupted delivery of supplies for the needs of the fleet and troops of the Oranienbaum bridgehead. In 1944, after the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad, work began on clearing the Neva and the Gulf of Finland. For this purpose, a “Special Purpose Detachment” was created; it included 10-12 boats - everyone understands that this was a detachment of “suicide bombers”.
A sea mine is a terrible device designed to destroy everything that floats past it and above it within a radius of three hundred meters; it is filled with 70 to 300 kg of hexogen, and if we measure the charge in the “usual” TNT equivalent for us, then it is 1 .5 times more powerful. Mines were installed in several ways: they either lay on the bottom waiting for prey, or were held on special cables between the bottom and the surface of the water, but there were also floating mines that were torn from their place of installation. To clear the waters of this infection, it was necessary to somehow cut them off this cable so that they would float up, and then it was a matter of technology, how to neutralize them - it was more difficult with bottom mines. But the command set a task, and ways to destroy these deadly traps were found.
When they say that sappers make mistakes twice, this means that the first time is when choosing a specialty, and the second time is when demining is unsuccessful. And this is the prose of life, because the risk of dying is indeed very great. Fortunately, people who were directly involved in such operations are still alive. One of them is Yuri Mikhailovich Sukhorukov, a retired captain of the 1st rank, and in those difficult years a 17-year-old St. Petersburg boy with the rank of “senior red naval officer.” His vivid memories helped us to paint a picture of this terrible work.
During the blockade, the hands of women and teenagers built watercraft that became part of the so-called special forces detachment. These boats were small boats, 14 meters long and 2.5 meters wide. The 20 mm pine plank sheathing was pierced through by an ordinary rifle bullet, and simply multi-layer plywood was used to construct the deck and superstructure. A DShK machine gun was also installed there, and powerful, trouble-free American engines were used as engines, two for each boat. The crew consisted of 5-6 people, the boats were commanded mainly by mobilized sailors of the Baltic Shipping Company (by the way, many of them immediately after the war received American ships of the Liberty type and became famous captains in the infantry fighting vehicles, such as Ponomarev, Alexandrov and etc.)
For combat mine sweeping, special devices were used - mine trawls. The first trawls were imperfect, essentially disposable, but later trawls came into service that could catch up to a dozen mines. It was assumed that the cut mine either exploded when it was cut, or floated up, and then it had to be destroyed with a well-aimed shot. But destroy it, keeping in mind that after a successful shot the mine exploded, forming a powerful column of water as high as a 10-12 storey building, which turned everything inside and next to it into shreds.
Hitting a mine with a machine gun from a considerable distance is quite problematic, and even if you hit it, there is a danger that it will “perforate”, fill with water and sink, thereby posing an even greater threat. Attempts to attract for the destruction of mines patrol ships with artillery weapons also did not lead to anything good, because hitting a mine even in calm water from three hundred meters is not an easy task, not to mention shooting in stormy weather. But a solution was found, in Russian, simple and fail-safe: when a mine was discovered, the boat approached it a short distance, and a two-man boat with an oarsman and a daredevil miner in whose hands was a demolition cartridge was lowered from it. Then the boat went to a safe distance.
As Yuri Mikhailovich recalls: “there are two people on the boat: one with oars, the other with a cartridge cord. The cord burns for 5 minutes 20 seconds, that is, it is quite possible to have time to approach the mine at a distance of just a meter, light the fuse cord, hang the cartridge on the horn, make a final push with the oars and run. At this time, the boat was moving at full speed towards the boat, about sixty meters from the mine there was a transfer from boat to boat, and this was the most dangerous thing, given the rough seas. Then - a rapid jerk of the boat 300-400 meters from the mine, the mine exploded, a column of water rose into the sky... And forward, after the next mine.”
Sometimes I had to jump into icy water: “One day, after attaching a cartridge to a mine and disembarking on a boat, the engine suddenly stalled. When there is a mine fifty meters away from you, and the fuse on it burns out, this means inevitable death for the ship and its crew. There is only one solution - I throw myself into the water, crawl to the mine, and cut off the cartridge with a boatswain's knife. It goes under water and there, at depth, explodes. Of course, it stunned me a little, but the boat and the entire crew remained alive..."
In this way, Yuri Mikhailovich personally destroyed 488 mines.
To others in an original way bottom mines were destroyed: depth charges were dropped from the boat, after the explosion of which a mine, or maybe several at once, would detonate and explode - that’s God willing, and where this mine would explode, under the boat or at a safe distance, is unknown. In general, Russian roulette. And yet, the task was completed. On June 5, 1946, the Hydrographic Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet notified sailors about the opening of the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway. So far, the fairway was open for navigation only during the day, since at night there was a danger of explosions from drifting “orphan” mines. And the heroic work of our miners continued until 1949.
The war at sea continued after the Victory. For the safety of other people, for the possibility of normal operation of the Leningrad port, for the revival of merchant shipping, the sailors-miners gave their lives, and we must remember these sacrifices. In memory of the feat of the sailors from the Special Forces Detachment, who broke through the mine blockade of Leningrad, a modest obelisk was erected on Elagin Island, where minesweepers were based during the war.
Reviews
Thank you for the article! I knew Sukhorukov, we met with him on Elagin every May 9th. My father was a divisional mechanic of the 8th DKTSH from 45 to 48 or 49, and before that he was a trawler commander of a warhead-5 on the TSCH43 Furmanov (Leonty Fedorovich Ivanov), and participated in the Tallinn crossing. You probably know about Tyshchuk. In general, there are very few documents about 8DKTSH, as if it did not exist.
All the best and Happy New Year with the most best wishes in the new year.
Sincerely,
Vladimir
During World War II, the Baltic Sea was even jokingly nicknamed “soup with dumplings,” meaning mines by dumplings. In total, by the end of the 1944 campaign, approximately 66,500 mines were delivered here on both sides. After the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad and Finland's exit from the war, the opportunity arose to conduct combat mine sweeping in order to clear the Gulf of Finland of mines. According to the terms of the armistice agreement, Finnish minesweepers also took part in the operation. But even after the end of World War II, the Gulf of Finland remained an area closed to the passage of ships and vessels. Sea communication between Leningrad and the “mainland” could only be maintained along the skerry fairway provided by Finland. At the final stage of the war, our submariners used this channel to move to the Baltic Sea to combat positions, bypassing the mined Gulf of Finland. Unfortunately, the skerry fairway was intended only for small displacement vessels. The situation was complicated by the fact that sea ports The Baltic states were completely destroyed.
The restoration of the deep-sea outlet from Leningrad to the Baltic Sea along the Gulf of Finland acquired the greatest national importance. The main fairway for such sea traffic was the Great Ship Fairway, which was repeatedly blocked by minefields during the war years. In accordance with the decision of the USSR government, this fairway was to be opened for the safe passage of ships and vessels.
For several months, the heroic sailors of the Baltic Fleet "cut" a new "window to Europe" through enemy minefields. Trawling was complicated by the fact that the creators of the minefields took care to make the minefields almost impregnable. The clearing of the fairway from mines, which began in the fall of 1944, was completed by the beginning of June 1946.
Immediately before the opening of the fairway, a simultaneous crossing was made along it four divisions minesweepers with installed trawls, during which several more mines turned out to be mines. On June 5, 1946, the command of the Baltic Fleet notified sailors about the opening of the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time had communication with the Baltic Sea. Then the Leningrad seaport began operating at full capacity again.
In memory of an important historical event - the opening of a passage along the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway - the date June 5 “Day of Breaking the Naval Mine Blockade of Leningrad” was included in St. Petersburg dated October 12, 2005 No. 555-78 “On Holidays and Days of Remembrance in St. Petersburg."
Combat trawling did not end there and continued until 1957, and all Estonian waters became open for navigation and fishing only in 1963. The war for minesweeper sailors lasted almost 20 years after the surrender of Germany.
On the 8th of September the mournful anniversary is celebrated - 75 years old from the start date Siege of Leningrad- one of the most terrible crimes of World War II committed by Nazi Germany and its allies.
It is believed that the Siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days. However, in reality there were 872 days of blockade - from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. According to historians today, based on the latest data, the Siege of Leningrad claimed the lives of about one and a half million people, 97% of the victims died of starvation.
Key dates associated with the Siege of Leningrad
- September 8, 1941 - The day the blockade began;
- January 18, 1943 - Day of breaking the blockade;
- January 27, 1944 - Day of complete lifting of the blockade;
- June 5, 1946 - Day of breaking through the naval mine blockade of Leningrad.
Beginning of the blockade
The beginning of the blockade is considered to be September 8, 1941, when the land connection between Leningrad and the rest of the USSR was interrupted. However, the blockade actually began two weeks earlier - on August 27 it was interrupted railway connection cities with the mainland, at train stations and in the suburbs of Leningrad, by this time tens of thousands of people had accumulated, trying to leave to the east. Also in the city at that time there were already more than 300 thousand refugees from the western regions of the USSR and the Baltic republics captured by the Nazis.
Hunger
Leningrad entered the war with the usual supply of food. Food cards were introduced in the city on July 17, but food was not particularly saved, the norms were large, and there was no shortage of food before the blockade began.
However, by the beginning of the blockade it turned out that the city did not have sufficient supplies of food and fuel, and the only link connecting Leningrad with the mainland was the famous Road of Life, which ran along Lake Ladoga and was within the reach of enemy artillery and aircraft.
The catastrophic food situation for the besieged city became clear on September 12, when inspections of food warehouses were completed. Not only were losses due to the famous Babaev warehouses bombed during the first air raids, where a significant amount of food was concentrated, but also errors in the distribution of food in the first two months of the war had an impact. The first sharp reduction in food distribution standards occurred on September 15. After this, the norms decreased until December, standing at a minimum level of the famous 125 blockade grams, which were due to children and dependents.
In addition, from September 1, the free sale of food was prohibited (this measure was in effect until mid-1944). The official sale of products in so-called commercial stores at market prices was also prohibited. At the same time, on the black market, which operated in Leningrad throughout the war and the blockade, food, fuel, medicine, etc. could be exchanged for valuables.
In October, city residents already felt a clear shortage of food, and in November real famine began. It was especially scary when, before ice was established on Ladoga, food was delivered to the city only by air. Only with the beginning of winter did the Road of Life begin to operate at full capacity, but the products delivered along it, naturally, were not enough. At the same time, all transport communications were under constant enemy fire.
The harsh winter of 1941-42 aggravated the horrors of mass starvation, which led to huge casualties in the first winter of the siege.
Victims of the blockade
During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 600 thousand to one and a half million people died. On Nuremberg trials the talk was about 632 thousand dead, but later this number was repeatedly revised, alas, upward. Only 3% of the dead were victims of bombing and shelling, the remaining 97% died of starvation.
Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous!
In the first months of the blockade, despite the meager standards for the distribution of bread, death from hunger had not yet become a mass phenomenon, and most of the dead were victims of bombing and artillery shelling.
It was then that the famous inscriptions appeared on the walls of some houses: “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous.”
Inscriptions were made on houses on the northern and northeastern sides of the streets, since the Nazis were shelling the city from the south and southwest - from long-range guns installed on the Pulkovo Heights and in Strelna.
This is due to the fact that the shelling of Leningrad was carried out only from territories occupied by German troops, the Finnish units closing the blockade from the north almost did not fire at the city. In Kronstadt, such inscriptions were painted on the southwestern sides of the streets, as the Germans were shelling from the direction of occupied Peterhof.
The most famous inscription on the even “sunny” side of Nevsky Prospekt was made in the summer of 1943 by two girls - fighters of the Local Air Defense (LAD) Tatyana Kotova and Lyubov Gerasimova.
Alas, the actual inscriptions on the walls have not been preserved, but in the 1960-1970s, some of them were recreated as a sign of memory of the heroism of Leningraders.
Currently, the inscriptions “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous” are stored at the following addresses:
- Nevsky Prospekt, building 14;
- Lesnoy prospect, house 61;
- 22 line of Vasilievsky Island, building 7;
- Posadskaya street in Kronstadt, house 17/14;
- Ammerman Street in Kronstadt, house 25.
All inscriptions are accompanied by marble plaques.
The feat of Leningrad was noted even before the end of the war. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of May 1, 1945, Leningrad was named a hero city for the heroism and courage shown by the city's residents during the siege. Along with Leningrad, three more cities were awarded this title - Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa.
Today at 11.00 Moscow time at the pier on the Middle Nevka in the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after. S.M. Kirov there will be a solemn meeting and a flower-laying ceremony dedicated to the 66th anniversary of the breaking of the naval mine blockade of Leningrad, reported “ BaltInfo"at the press service of the city administration.
The event program includes: laying flowers at the memorial stele " For minesweeper sailors" And " Memory watch» - launching a wreath.
In St. Petersburg there is a Joint Council of Veterans of Protective Water Districts and Trawling Brigades of the Baltic Fleet. The first head of the Council was Yuri Sukhorukov, retired captain 1st rank, participant in demining the Gulf of Finland. Yuri Mikhailovich was born in 1926, in 1943 he became the son of the regiment. After World War II, he participated in demining territories for 5 years, with his help it was possible to eliminate 500 underwater mines. Yuri Mikhailovich passed away in July 2010.
Currently the Council is headed by Nikolay Ivanov.
At the same time, the workers and engineers who, during the difficult war and early post-war years, built minesweepers for mine clearance in the Baltic Sea at Leningrad shipbuilding enterprises, are united by the St. Petersburg regional public organization “ Union of Shipbuilding Veterans", which is headed by Anatoly Zatchaev.
In memory of an important historical event - the opening of a passage along the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn - Helsinki fairway - the date is June 5 " Day of breaking through the naval mine blockade of Leningrad"introduced into the St. Petersburg Law of October 12, 2005 No. 555-78 “On holidays and days of remembrance in St. Petersburg.” In 2012, this memorable date is celebrated for the sixth time.
During the siege of Leningrad to implement a blockade from the sea, the navy fascist Germany installed a huge number of mines in multi-tiered mine barriers in the Gulf of Finland, and the gulf became impassable for ships.
After breaking the blockade of the city on land in January 1943, the Military Council of the Leningrad Front began to prepare for a decisive offensive by our troops with the goal of completely liberating Leningrad from the fascist blockade. Since moving westward in the sea direction required overcoming numerous enemy minefields, and most of minesweepers had died by this time, the Military Council in April 1943 made an important decision to build small minesweepers at all shipyards of the besieged city - “ centenary" At the same time at the Boat Plant ( now - NPO "Almaz"") the construction of boat minesweepers with a wooden hull of the " KM».
After the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad in January 1944 and after Finland’s withdrawal from the war in September of the same year, the opportunity arose to conduct a combat minesweeping operation to clear the Gulf of Finland of mines, in which, under the terms of the armistice agreement, Finnish minesweepers also took part. However, when the war ended, the Gulf of Finland was still an area closed to ships.
Limited sea communication between Leningrad and " mainland» was supported only by the skerry fairway provided by Finland, passing through inland waters Suomi. It was intended for the passage of small-displacement ships (it was precisely this fairway that our submarines used at the final stage of the war to move to combat positions in the Baltic Sea, bypassing the mined Gulf of Finland). Therefore, immediately after the end of the war, the restoration of the traditional deep-sea exit from Leningrad to the Baltic Sea along the Gulf of Finland acquired the greatest national importance, especially since the Baltic seaports were completely destroyed.
Before the war, the main channel for such sea traffic was the Great Ship Channel, which during the years of the naval blockade was repeatedly blocked by minefields. In accordance with the decision of the USSR government, it was this fairway that was to be opened for the safe passage of ships and vessels in the first place. For several months, courageous Baltic miners had to “cut through” a new “window to Europe” in enemy minefields. The enemy took care to make his minefields virtually impregnable. They were specially surrounded by small mines - “mine defenders”, in large quantities they set booby traps and used other tricks that made trawling difficult and extremely dangerous. The clearing of the fairway from mines, which began in the fall of 1944, was completed by the beginning of June 1946.
Before the opening of the fairway, a simultaneous passage of four divisions of minesweepers with their trawls was carried out along it, during which several more mines were swept.
On June 5, 1946, the Hydrographic Department of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet notified sailors about the opening of the Great Ship Fairway from Kronstadt to the Tallinn-Helsinki fairway, which by that time already had a connection with the Baltic Sea. Then the Leningrad seaport began operating at full capacity again.
