The best pictures of the impressive military parade of the 75 years of the Nazi blockade in Leningrad

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday welcomed the "impregnable" spirit of St. Petersburg during the 75th anniversary celebration of the siege of the city, which killed at least 800,000 people between 1941 and 1945, during the Second World War.

Earlier in the day, some 2,000 soldiers, tanks and anti-aircraft systems marched past the center of the ancient city of Leningrad in front of hundreds of spectators who, even with blankets, have faced temperatures below zero.

In the parade in the second largest city of Russia was exposed a heavy arsenal, including the legendary tank T-34.

The military parade, organized under the snow near the Hermitage Museum, is often controversial, as many voices, even among the survivors of the siege, denounce the fact that it is about 39, an example of militarist propaganda led by the authorities.

President Vladimir Putin, a native of St. Petersburg, did not attend the show of force on the Palace Square, although he attended other commemorative events in the city.

At a concert, Putin said that Nazi troops, who tried to starve an "impregnable city" and subjected its inhabitants to "terrible suffering", will never be forgiven.

"According to the plans of the enemy, Leningrad was to be erased from the surface of the Earth"It was a" crime against humanity. "Putin, 66, was not born at the time of siege, but his older brother died in him and is buried in the cemetery of Piskaryovskoe.

Putin's mother nearly died of hunger during the blockade and her father, who was fighting in the Red Army, was wounded not far from Leningrad.

The former imperial capital of Russia had three million inhabitants before the war and more than 800,000 people died of hunger, disease and bombing during the 872 days of siege of the Hitlerite army .

Some 108,000 ex-combatants and survivors currently live in St. Petersburg. During the act, a minute of silence was observed while a metronome sounded in the background, recalling the one used during the siege to indicate to locals the imminence of aerial bombardments.

"It's a party for the city and the country," said Ivan Kolokoltsev, a 45-year-old manager. "We must remember, we must commemorate so that people will remember."