shaulindodorper

[shaulindodorper]

Belle the hippo during the Siege of Leningrad, at the Leningrad Zoo. Belle survived all 900 days of the Siege of Leningrad thanks to the efforts of her keepers. She has clearly lost weight. Compare her in 1943 (above) to a photo of Belle in 1935 (below).

In 1941 water was turned off throughout the city and Belle's pool was empty, so her skin began to dry out and crack. Every day, Dashina would drag a 40-liter barrel of water from the Neva river and rub the suffering hippo with camphor oil. Eventually, Belle's skin healed and she was able to hide underwater through the air raids. 1943

[shaulindodorper]

'Cosmonaut' mosaic on the corner of Nurken Abdirov Avenue and Gogol Street in Karaganda – a stunning piece created in 1966 by Moscow artists V.N. Krylov and N.U. Trobin. A beautiful reminder of Soviet art and space history.