T.I.H. Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna of Russia at the Piskarevskoe Memorial Cemetery, Leningrad, USSR, 1991.
Today is an important day in history, marking the anniversary of the end of the siege of Leningrad — almost 900 days of privation and suffering by the citizens of the former capital of St. Petersburg. From abroad, the members of the Imperial House watched anxiously for news of the city which they still regarded as their home.
It was not until 1991, however that the head of the Imperial House, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and his wife Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna became the first Romanovs able to pay their respects to those who suffered and died, when they visited the Piskaryevskoye Memorial Cemetery on the outskirts of Leningrad.
Their Imperial Highnesses laid a wreath in memory of those who had died to protect the northern capital and the Russian motherland against Fascist aggression.
