A Russian woman lays flowers during Victory Day memorial ceremony

An Orthodox priest walks past an honor guard soldier holding a Soviet era army flag depicting Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin during a wreath laying ceremony at the Piskaryovskoye Cemetery, the memorial to more than 1 million people who perished, mostly from hunger, at the 1941-1944 Nazis’ 900-day siege of Leningrad, now St.Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, May 8, 2013, on the eve of the annual Victory Day celebration. Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia’s most important secular holiday.

A woman places flowers during a wreath laying ceremony at the Piskaryovskoye Cemetery, the memorial to more than 1 million people who perished, mostly from hunger, at the 1941-1944 Nazis’ 900-day siege of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, May 8, 2013. <AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky>