This was because no evacuation plan had been made available in the chaos of the first winter of the war, and the city was completely isolated until 20 November 1941, when the ice road over Lake Ladoga became operational.
Dette skyldtes, at der ikke var blevet udarbejdet en evakueringsplan i det kaos, der herskede i den første vinter under krigen, og byen sultede i fuldstændig isolation indtil den 20. november 1941, hvor isvejen over Ladoga søen kunne tages i brug.