SPbSUT at the International scientific and practical conference

On August 30th and 31st, the international scientific and practical conference "Lend-Lease and Arctic Convoys: from regional cooperation to a global coalition"was held in Arkhangelsk. The event was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the first Allied convoy "Dervish".

The guests of the conference took part in laying flowers at the monument to the Northern Convoys on the embankment of the Northern Dvina and other official events.

At the opening of the conference, welcoming words were delivered by Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Alexander Tsybulsky, as well as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors to the Russian Federation of Great Britain and Norway, Mrs. Deborah Bronnert and Rune Resaland.

Associate Professor of the Department of History and Regional Studies Ekaterina Terentyeva made a report on "Arctic convoys in the coverage of the French press in 1941-1945" at the plenary session.

The participants, including guests from the United Kingdom and the United States, worked in four sections. They are devoted to the problems of the history and historiography of Lend-Lease, Arctic convoys, issues of studying and preserving their heritage. Another direction was devoted to the problems of teaching the topic of northern Allied convoys in schools.

A collection of scientific articles will be published based on the results of the conference.

During the Great Patriotic War, polar or Arctic convoys delivered humanitarian aid and military equipment from Great Britain to the northern ports of the USSR. Most often, the ships left Liverpool. The first convoy, codenamed "Dervish", included six ships. They approached the berths in Arkhangelsk on August 31st, 1941. More than two months after the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the convoy brought aircraft and other equipment, weapons, ammunition, as well as shoes for military personnel to the Soviet Union from Great Britain. At that time, the parties had not yet officially agreed on a lend-lease.