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Seskar Island was originally a possession of Finland but Stalin, recognizing the strategic importance of the island, sent his troops in to seize it for Russia. The then keepers and a small settlement of Finns on the island were slaughtered and, by the beginning of World War II, the island was inhabited by Russians.
During World War II the island was attacked
frequently by the Germans, again because of it's strategic
position in controlling entry to what was then Leningrad,
and was aggressively defended by the Russians with
considerable loss of life on both sides. The memorial,
visible to the left of the lighthouse, memorializes
those lost in the defense of the island and lighthouse.