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Leningrad
Leningrad (Attack on) is a 2009 Russian World War II drama about the dramatic siege of the Russian city Leningrad by the Nazi German invading forces. The German High Command decides that it is more effective (…) to starve the city and it’s 3mln. inhabitants to death, rather than taking the heavily defended city by force. The siege would eventually last about 2.5 years, from 8th September 1941 to a full lift of the siege of the city on 27th January 1944 taking an innumerable number of civilian and military lives.
British reporter Kate Davis (Mira Sorvino) gets stuck in the snowy and starving city during the last few weeks of 1941 and befriends police officer Nina Tsvetkova (Olga Sutulova) and her family. Kate’s friend, the American journalist Philip Barker (Gabriel Byrne), staying in Moscow to cover events there, is heartbroken and embarks on a dramatic journey to be reunited with Kate. In the meantime, Kate and Nina are fighting for their own survival and that of the people in the besieged city.
Even though the movie centers on the personal relations between the main characters, the movie has an epic first few minutes (quite like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan), in which the last defending battle is shown before Leningrad becomes fully enclosed. It must be noted that with the exception of police officer Nina none of the leading actors is actually seen handling a gun so for this reason most descriptions will simply say ‘Soviet army officer’ or ‘German soldier’.
The following weapons were used in the film Leningrad:
Soviet Army Guns
Nagant M1895
The Nagant M1895 revolver is used by police officer Nina (Olga Sutulova) as her personal side-arm throughout the movie.
Tokarev TT-33
A Tokarev TT-33 pistol is seen used by the Soviet army officer leading the last desperate charge agains the Germans before Leningrad is totally surrounded.
Mosin Nagant M91/30
Most of the defenders of Leningrad are carrying the Mosin Nagant M91/30 rifle even though they appear to be movie-adapted versions with non-standard front sights and some sort of plug on the front. The rifle is seen with two types of bayonets; the typical pop-up spike bayonet (not unlike the one on old flintlock rifles) and a very untypical side-mounting that would not become standard until the Mosin Nagant M44 carbine.
Mosin Nagant M44
In many scenes, the forces defending Leningrad are equipped with the Mosin Nagant M44 carbine, identifiable by the bayonet fixed to the right side of the rifle. The use of this carbine is anachronistic because it was not introduced until 1944, and this movie is set in the 1941/42 winter. Also, the Mosin Nagant M44’s do not appear to be standard models as they are equipped with non-standard front sights plus some sort of plug on the front.
PPSh-41
The PPSh-41 machine gun is seen in scenes where Nina Tsvetkova (Olga Sutulova) and other selected members of the Leningrad defence forces are given the dangerous task of guarding trucks supplying the city over the ‘Road of Death’. This is a make-shift highway over the frozen ice of Lake Ladoga that acts as the only supply line of the city during the winter.
Maxim M1910-30
In several scenes, Soviet defensive positions are equipped with the somewhat outdated but reliable Maxim M1910-30 machine gun.
German Army Guns
Mauser Karabiner 98K
In several scenes, German soldiers are using Karabiner 98k’s. In most cases during the trench hand-to-hand combat, the rifle is equipped with a bayonet.
MP40
An MP40 is seen used by several German soldiers during the opening battle. In one instance, the MP40 is used by a German soldier as a club, which might be appropriate because of the single-columned MP40’s reputation of being prone to jams caused by bad weather circumstances on the Russian front.
MG34
The MG34 machine gun appears in several scenes, in most cases mounted on motorcycles.
