Moscow also warned that the time for Berlin to repair the "historic injustice" is gradually running out as the number of survivors is decreasing.
In a statement issued before the anniversary of the removal of the Leningrad blockade, the Russian Embassy in Berlin criticized Germany's current compensation policy as biased and exclusionary, when it only applies to Jewish victims and does not extend to other ethnic communities that have suffered the same fate in the nearly 900-day siege.
We strongly call on the German side - a nation with indefinite historical responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi German regime - to recognize the siege of Leningrad and other crimes of the Third Reich and its henchmen as genocidal acts against the Soviet nations" - the statement stated.
According to Moscow, Berlin's refusal of this approach is not only a legal or financial issue, but also reflects a selective interpretation of history, overshadowing the brutality that millions of Soviet civilians suffered during World War II.
Russia's message has a rare urgent tone. "Time is running out to rectify mistakes, because the number of survivors after the siege of Leningrad is decreasing" - the Russian Embassy emphasized, implying the risk that historical justice could become too late.
The siege of Leningrad - now St. Petersburg - took place from 1941 to 1944, carried out by German and Finnish armies, with the support of the Italian navy. Instead of occupying the city, the Axis chose a strategy of suffocating with hunger and bombs and bullets, turning Leningrad into a "giant prison" amidst the harsh winter.
During most of the blockade, the city's supply could almost only be transported by air or through frozen Ladoga Lake - a road known as the "Road of Life".
Despite this effort, the price that the Soviet Union had to pay was extremely disastrous: About 1.5 million soldiers and 1 million civilians were killed in the Battle of Leningrad, before the Axis forces were pushed back in 1944.
Disagreements between Moscow and Berlin on how to perceive the siege of Leningrad are not new. Russia has long argued that Germany's sole compensation for Jewish victims is underestimating the pain of other ethnic groups, while most victims of hunger, bombs and disease in Leningrad are Russians and other ethnic groups in the former Soviet Union.
The German side, according to its long-standing position, considers the current compensation policy to be consistent with the international legal framework and post-war agreements. However, Russia believes that this approach has narrowed the concept of victims, raising questions about Berlin's comprehensive historical responsibility.
