The Great Patriotic War

What the rest of the planet calls World War II is known here as the Great Patriotic War and is dated from 1941 until 1945 (the years of the Molotov- Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact are conveniently left out). Within four months of Hitler's invasion on June 22, 1941, Nazi troops had taken Kiev and were on the outskirts of both Moscow and Leningrad. Hitler ordered his troops to wipe Leningrad off the face of the earth and they blockaded the city for 872 days, shelling incessantly in an attempt to destroy the population's will. Leningrad did not give in and the blockade was eventually broken on January 27, 1944, but only after well over half a million civilians had perished.