Memory campaign «Together they call us – Leningrad!»
On September 8, 2026, the Memory Action «Together they call us – Leningrad!» was held in the exhibition hall-gallery named after Hero of the Soviet Union Cholponbai Tuleberdiev, dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Leningrad.
The event was organized by the Joint Directorate of Museums of the Department of Culture of the Bishkek City Hall and the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University.
The action united the participants around a common historical memory of the feat of the residents and defenders of Leningrad. The blockade of the city began on September 8, 1941 and lasted 872 days – until January 27, 1944. Particular attention during the event was paid to the role of Kyrgyzstan in supporting the besieged city: natives of the republic participated in the defense of Leningrad, and the Kyrgyz SSR received evacuated residents and children, sent food and other necessary assistance.
As part of the commemorative program, a concert of creative groups KRSU took place. Poems and songs dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, the courage and unity of the Soviet people were performed. One of the special events of the evening was the premiere of the song «Sweet Bread».
The continuation of the program was the opening of a historical and documentary exhibition «Together they call us – Leningrad!». The exhibition is dedicated to the history of ties between Leningrad and the Kyrgyz SSR, mutual assistance in peacetime and during the Great Patriotic War. It presents archival materials and evidence, including little-known pages of support for the besieged city by Kyrgyzstanis.
Author of the exhibition – Director of the Center for Historical and Cultural Heritage KRSU Leonid Sumarokov. The exhibition is based on materials from his historical and documentary essay of the same name «Together they call us – Leningrad!», presented in KRSU a year earlier.
The action became another opportunity to address the common history of Kyrgyzstan and Russia and remind the younger generation of the price of Victory, the courage of the residents of besieged Leningrad and the mutual support of peoples during the war.
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