The southwestern corner of Lake Ladoga is not very far from the exurbs of St. Petersburg. My wife's uncle lives in that direction from St. Petersburg. He once took us to the shore where the Road of Life ended on the Leningrad side. The Road of Life was an ice road used to transport people out of and supplies into Leningrad during the Siege of Leningrad between September 1941 and January 1944. There is a large monument there.

Leningrad was surrounded by German troops in the southwest, the south and the southeast. The Gulf of Finland was in the west. Lake Ladoga was in the east. To the north and northwest were Finnish troops. The Soviet Union wanted to invade, occupy and annex Finland in order to prevent this very scenario. By leaving us alone and not starting the Winter War the Soviet Union could have had neutral Finland in the northwest to trade with and help supply the city. But Stalin couldn't have been able to count on Finland being able and willing to maintain neutrality in the war.

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