RP79TO
gorod voinskoy slavy Tihvin

The earliest information about the Tikhvinsky Prechistensky churchyard dates back to 1383. The chronicle reports that at that time a wooden church of the Assumption was built here. Later, in 1495−1496, historian Yu.K. Saburov in the Novgorod scribe book mentioned "... the churchyard of Tikhvin with a wooden church in it...".

Tikhvin is a small town in the Leningrad region, which is 240km away from St. Petersburg and 400 kilometers from the border of Finland. The city was on the path of the Nazi troops rushing to Leningrad. The soldiers of the Red Army and the defenders of Tikhvin were tasked with near impossible mission of stopping the Wehrmacht units and prevent them from joining the rest of the German forces.

In June 1941, Tikhvin had not yet been bombed yet German planes were in the sky over Tikhvin. Already in July 1941, trains with Leningrad children went there by trains. There was no blockade yet as young as six months old were in a hurry to evacuate Saint-Petersburg. Several orphanages were opened in Tikhvin. When the kids were arriving to the station Tikvin citizens had to walk to meet them and take them to the city as all modes of transport (i.e. horses, cars, etc.) were sent to the front to defend the country.

By autumn, the enemy approached: Finnish troops were already 100 kilometers away. The Germans cut the railway to Leningrad over the Svir river and went to Ladoga. And yet most of the southern coast of the lake remained under our control. This made it possible to supply Leningrad with food by water, which was then later named the "Road of Life". Tikhvin on this route turned out to be a key railway junction, an evacuation, assembly, transshipment and sanitary point.

Behind Tikhvin, the fascists would have an operational space: having united with the Finns, they would have turned to Moscow with doubled forces. The troops had been defending Leningrad despite the danger of the entire Baltic Fleet being destroyed. The provincial town unexpectedly gained strategic importance during the entire Great War. The battles for Tikhvin went almost along the entire front line - from Novgorod to Ladoga. Bloodless from the battle for Leningrad, our troops were forced to retreat. On November 8, 1941, German units entered Tikhvin.

Ten undercover spy groups were organized in Tikhvin. More than half of those were comprised of teenagers. The Germans began total destruction of the population, often dealt with people who had nothing to do with the partisans and were merciless even to children.

A month later, on December 9, 1941, Soviet troops drove the enemy out of Tikhvin, with only 30 people remaining in the city. The Nazis fled, leaving heavy equipment and weapons in a panic. Eight German divisions lost more than 70% of their troops near Tikhvin. And although the blockade of Leningrad continued, the enemy was forced to stop. The Tikhvin offense was one of the first successful operations of the Red Army during the World War II.

After the victory at Tikhvin, the supply base of Leningrad was transferred from the distant stations of Zaborye and Podborovye to Tikhvin, which reduced the length of the highway - the Road of Life - from 320 to 110 km.

By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 4, 2010, the city of Tikhvin was awarded the honorary title of the Russian Federation "City of Military Glory" for the courage, resilience and mass heroism shown by the city's defenders in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Fatherland.

May 9, Victory Day is a celebration of the victory of the Soviet people over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Eternal glory and eternal memory to courageous heroes!

The special call sign RP79TO of the city of military glory Tikhvin will operate on the air of the Victory Memorial, in honor of the 79th anniversary of the Victory in World War II.