Leningrad was besieged from September 1941 until January 1944, after German forces invaded Soviet territory. Siege entered history as one of the most tragic events of World War II, as it caused human losses estimated at about one million people.
140,000 children were killed during 842 days of the siege, due to bombing, hunger, disease, and hypothermia. During the siege of Leningrad, the Germans isolated it from the rest of the Soviet Union, and the city's residents suffered from severe hunger and disease.