The Siege of Leningrad and Burt Lancaster's "Unknown War"

The Russian city of St. Petersburg on Saturday marked the 80th anniversary of the end of a devastating World War II siege by Nazi forces with a series of memorial events attended by Russian President Vladimir #Putin and close allies. #Leningrad80Show more

The #Kremlin leader laid flowers at a monument to fallen Soviet defenders of the city, then called #Leningrad, on the banks of the Neva River, and then at Piskarevskoye Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of siege victims are buried.

On Saturday afternoon, Putin was joined by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Gatchina, a town outside #StPetersburg that once housed camps for Soviet prisoners of war, for the unveiling of a statue commemorating civilians killed during the Nazi onslaught.

The Red Army broke the nearly two-and-a-half year blockade on Jan. 19, 1943, after more than 900 days of fierce fighting. Estimates of the death toll vary, but historians agree that more than 1 million Leningrad residents perished from hunger, or air and artillery bombardments, during the siege.

It is estimated that over 600,000 Leningrad residents died of hunger -- far more than died from bombs or artillery fire.

Putin was born and raised in Leningrad, and his #WWII veteran father suffered wounds while fighting for the city. Putin's elder brother died of starvation at the age of two. He is buried in a mass grave, where the president lays a ceremonial wreath every year.

On this 80th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the #Nazis, we will take you on a deep dive into the history of that historic battle and show you some incredible footage from the Soviet and German archives that Westerners rarely ever see.

In 1978, actor Burt Lancaster co-produced a 20-part documentary series about World War Two on the Eastern front called "The Unknown War."

The series was produced with the help of the Soviet Union, who opened their private archives of footage captured by Red Army photographers during the war for this production. Nearly four million feet of raw film footage was stored alongside German films captured by the Allies after the war for 35 years but never exhibited to the public -- until "The Unknown War" showed it to the world for the first time.

In this special report, we will show you excerpts from this mammoth 20-part series specific to the Battle for Leningrad, and tell you the amazing backstory of Burt Lancaster's personal mission to make this historic film documenting WWII like you've never seen it before.

Tune in tonight at 9 PM Eastern for the premiere.

WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised.

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Now that you know the fascinating backstory of "The Unknown War," watch the full 20-part documentary series for free here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhs30iGhgICncex8qB-_Fmej-0HSwy4fH&si=WIb3pxD7c03CIeS2