Zapadnaya Litsa River

The Sapadnaja Liza (Russian Западная Лица; Zapadnaya Litsa English ) or "Western Liza " is a 101 km long river in the Murmansk Oblast in the far northwest of Russia, at the westernmost end of the Kola Peninsula.

Geography

The river rises in the vicinity of the mountain Kutschintundra ( Кучинтундра, 578 m), flows through several lakes and then in a northerly direction the tundra. He finally opens at the Murman coast in a fjord of the Barents Sea, which is named after the river: Guba Sapadnaja Liza (Russian губа Западная Лица ). In this fjord there are several naval bases of the Northern Fleet.

The neighboring Malaya Liza ( Малая Лица ) or "Little Liza " opens a few kilometers east in a side arm of the fjord. The rivers run east of Pechenga and west of Murmansk, her mouth is opposite the fishing peninsula.

Disambiguation

The adjective "Western " ( Sapadnaja ) distinguishes the flow of an "Eastern Liza " ( Vostochnaya Liza, Восточная Лица ), which also runs on the Kola peninsula and flows into the Barents Sea, but far to the east of Murmansk.

History

The Sapadnaja Malaya and Liza were the first line of defense of the Soviet troops in front of the strategically important port city of Murmansk during the Second World War from 1941 to 1944. The soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, which mainly belonged to the mountain infantry divisions, tried to break through in the context of the company's silver fox here to Murmansk from Kirkenes. On September 7, 1941, succeeded the mountain troops to cross the Liza and penetrate into the enemy positions. On the night of September 23, 1941, the first snow fell on the Liza - front. The regiment had to be withdrawn behind the Liza again. These fierce fighting killed thousands of soldiers on both sides. The Red Army succeeded in breaking through to Murmansk to prevent.