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The 80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 medal was established by a Presidential Executive Order in 2024. The obverse side features a figure of a victorious soldier raising the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.

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President’s speech at the Leningrad Victory concert

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Dear veterans, friends,

Congratulations on the anniversary of the complete lifting of the siege of courageous and unconquered Leningrad. Happy holiday!

For us, residents of Leningrad, January 27, 1944, marks a special date which is honoured in every family whose relatives went through harrowing and unimaginable ordeals of the siege.

The mass feat of the besieged city will never be forgotten. They, our veterans, left to their descendants an example of selflessness, mercy, cohesion and true patriotism for centuries to come. These lofty human qualities have at all times invariably strengthened our confidence and strength.

On this day, I would like to once again pay respects to all heroic defenders of Leningrad, all those who bravely fought on the Nevsky Pyatachok, the Pulkovo Heights, Oranienbaum and Kronstadt, Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, those who ensured the safety of the legendary Road of Life, which was used to evacuate thousands of Leningrad residents and to bring food to the city.

For all our country, the Leningrad Victory will forever remain the triumph of life, courage and spiritual might of our people, the landmark of the heroic battle against Nazism, and a key milestone on the way to the crushing defeat of the enemy – that Nazi machine of death and extermination of entire peoples.

We will always remember that the Soviet people brought life, peace and freedom to humanity, and did so as a heroic nation at the cost of an immense number of victims and irreplaceable losses.

This year, we will mark the 80^th anniversary of the Great Victory. It has been declared the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland in Russia, signifying our enduring remembrance of the events of the Great Patriotic War, in honour of the monumental achievements of the victorious generation and in tribute to our contemporary heroes – participants in the special military operation. They are defending their homeland, safeguarding our interests, and ensuring the security of Russia. They are present here in the hall. Let us extend our welcome to them.

(Applause.)

Friends, the siege of Leningrad was unprecedented in its cruelty and cynicism. The enemy sought to obliterate the city from the face of the earth, to encircle it and annihilate it through bombings and artillery strikes, and to starve the civilians to death.

These were deliberate, documented intentions of the Nazis, plans for systematic destruction and extermination of thousands upon thousands of defenceless people. It is absolutely clear that the siege of Leningrad ranks among such heinous crimes against humanity as the Holocaust, death camps, and the punitive actions of nationalist collaborators against civilians.

The siege claimed more than one million lives. This tragedy endured for nearly two and a half years. Yet, despite the losses and hardships, our city continued to live. In the dire conditions of hunger and cold, under bombardment and shelling, people worked in factories and hospitals, making clothes for soldiers, fought fires caused by incendiary bombs, cared for the wounded, and donated blood for the front. Absolutely astonishing! They could not be broken.

Children and teenagers were true assistants, associates to the adults. Today, we have here Leningraders who had to endure these arduous trials as children. I wish you, all our veterans, good health and well-being. We bow deeply to you!

To commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the Great Victory, a jubilee medal has been instituted. It will be presented to all frontline soldiers, home front workers, residents of blockaded Leningrad, besieged Stalingrad and Sevastopol, and former juvenile prisoners of concentration camps – all our veterans. Today, these decorations will be presented for the first time here in St Petersburg, in heroic Leningrad.

Friends, once again, from the bottom of my heart, I congratulate you on this occasion – congratulations on the liberation of Leningrad from the enemy siege.