When the Red Army broke through the Siege of Leningrad on January 18, 1943, many Indian writers, political and public figures could express their support for the Soviet Union only from the prison dungeons where they were imprisoned by the British colonial regime. India did not fight on the side of the USSR during the Second World War, but its people have always supported Russia in its confrontation with Nazism.

The events of 80 years ago on different sides of the Himalayas were discussed at a seminar at the Russian House in New Delhi. A photo exhibition dedicated to breaking the siege of the city on the Neva was opened in the cultural center.

As military historian Colonel Shailendra Singh stated, "the British metropolitan power in that war had its own interests along with the Western allies." “We were not an independent state and did not decision makers, being under the heel of London. And we did not fight for Hitler, but against the UK in India,” he said.

The Colonel recounted how he tracked down the story of two Indian servicemen who ensured that several convoys of ammunition and food were sent from India to the fighting Stalingrad. They were senior non-commissioned officer Narayan Rao Nikkama and Sergeant Garjendra Singh of the automotive company of the logistics corps.

Trucks, from 10 to 12 cars, left Indian military factories in 40-degree heat, overcame the mountain roads of Afghanistan and the deserts of Central Asia in 7-10 days and reached the banks of the Volga in severe frost. The Indians managed to make one of the convoys in 3.5 days, without sleep and stops, for which the Soviet command awarded them the Order of the Red Star.

The exhibition and seminar at the Russian House were attended by university students of Indian universities, entrepreneurs, students of Russian language courses. TV channel Russia Today sent its crew.