
German and Russian soldiers have been taking part in the reburial of the remains of more than 1,000 Second World War troops.

The reburial took place today at the German cemetery in Sologubovka, around 40miles from St. Petersburg in Russia.

A total of 1,386 remains of German soldiers were found in the Leningrad region and reburied at the cemetery this afternoon.

German and Russian soldiers have been taking part in the reburial of the remains of more than 1,000 Second World War troops

The reburial took place today at the German cemetery in Sologubovka, around 40miles from St. Petersburg in Russia

A total of 1,386 remains of German soldiers were collected at the Leningrad region and reburied at the cemetery this afternoon

The skeletons were discovered on the bank of the River Neva near the city, previously known as Leningrad, which was invaded by the Nazis in 1941. For 900 days the city fell siege to the Germans, costing the lives of around 200,000 Soviet soldiers and thousands of civilians.

Search groups have become increasingly popular in recent years, as volunteers try to identify soldiers and if possible, reunite the remains with families before giving them a proper burial.

In June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched what was to become one of the bloodiest campaigns in recent military history as he invaded Russia for Operation Barbarossa.

Targeting Leningrad, now known as St Petersburg, it took the German army just three months to encircle the city.

The German siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days from September, 1941 to January, 1944. During that time 800,000 people, nearly a third of the population at the siege’s beginning, starved to death. Roughly one in three. Many of them in the streets.

Soviet soldiers fought hard to secure a stretch of the river bank, in a bid to break the blockade from the Nazis but hundreds of thousands of troops were slaughtered in the process.

In total, the USSR lost around 11million soldiers during the war and up to 20million of its civilians.

Of the estimated 70million people killed in World War II, 26million died on the Eastern front - and up to four million of them are still officially considered missing in action.

The skeletons were discovered on the bank of the River Neva near the city, previously known as Leningrad, which was invaded by the Nazis in 1941

For 900 days the city fell siege to the Germans, costing the lives of around 200,000 Soviet soldiers and thousands of civilians

Search groups have become increasingly popular in recent years, as volunteers try to identify soldiers and if possible, reunite the remains with families before giving them a proper burial

In June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched what was to become one of the bloodiest campaigns in recent military history as he invaded Russia for Operation Barbarossa

Targeting Leningrad, now known as St Petersburg, it took the German army just three months to encircle the city