Leningrad was one of the prime objectives of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. On 8 September 1941, the German 4th Panzer Army severed the city’s land contact with the Soviet interior by taking Shlisselburg but not the Oreshek Fortress which though was heavily damaged during the siege. The Finns, allied with the Germans, advanced to recover Karelia, which had been lost to the Soviets in the recent Russo-Finnish War. Having recovered this territory, however, Finnish forces did not push on to the city itself. Had they done so, Leningrad would probably have fallen early in the campaign.
