Every year on June 22, Russia celebrates the Day of Memory and Sorrow. On this day in 1941, the troops of Nazi Germany and its allies attacked the USSR without declaring war. The Great Patriotic War began, in which about 27 million Soviet citizens died. Archival footage of the first days of the Great Patriotic War — in the AiF.ru photo feed.
Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941 during the announcement on the radio of a government message about the perfidious attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union © RIA Novosti/Yevgeny Khaldey
Residents of Leningrad on Nevsky Prospekt on June 22, 1941 during the announcement on the radio of a government message about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union © RIA Novosti
June 22, 1941. Nurses assist the first wounded after a Nazi air raid near Chisinau © RIA Novosti/Georgy Zelma
Air Raid in Leningrad in the First Days of World War II © RIA Novosti/Grigory Chertov
Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941. © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
On Red Square in the early days of the Great Patriotic War. Moscow, June 1941. © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
Children on the streets of the city. Moscow, June 23, 1941. © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
June 22, 1941 German aircraft bombed Soviet cities © RIA Novosti
Beams of searchlights of the air defense forces illuminate the sky of Moscow. Moscow, June 1941 © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941 during the announcement on the radio of a government message about the perfidious attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union © RIA Novosti/Yevgeny Khaldey
Residents of Leningrad on Nevsky Prospekt on June 22, 1941 during the announcement on the radio of a government message about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union © RIA Novosti
June 22, 1941. Nurses assist the first wounded after a Nazi air raid near Chisinau © RIA Novosti/Georgy Zelma
Air Raid in Leningrad in the First Days of World War II © RIA Novosti/Grigory Chertov
Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Moscow, June 23, 1941. © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
On Red Square in the early days of the Great Patriotic War. Moscow, June 1941. © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
Children on the streets of the city. Moscow, June 23, 1941. © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin
On June 22, 1941, German aircraft bombed Soviet cities © RIA Novosti
Beams of searchlights of the air defense forces illuminate the sky of Moscow. Moscow, June 1941 © RIA Novosti/Anatoly Garanin Estimated reading time: less than a minute
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