Yura Riabinkin

At the beginning of the siege, Yura Riabinkin was 15 years old and living in Leningrad with his mother and 8-year-old sister, while his aunt was working as a doctor on the war front. Yura was a schoolboy at the time of the siege, taking pride in his academic accomplishments including receiving the Young Seaman's Badge the summer before the siege and receiving high marks on his paper presentations. 

Throughout the weeks of summer during the siege, Yura kept busy with his reading, schoolwork, and fun activities such as the cinema and zoo. His diary entries are focused on the bombings of Leningrad. It wasn't until the weather started getting colder and the rations started getting smaller that he began to focus more on food and his hunger. 

As the winter continued, Yura became more focused on his survival and his starvation, seeing his sister Ira both as an enemy and as a necessary person to protect. Yura's mother's legs also began to swell up painfully, due likely to edema, preventing her from walking. In addition, Yura remained fixated on the idea of leaving, frequently discussing the evacuation process and any news he had of others leaving. 

However, by the end of the siege, it seemed like Yura had lost hope. On January 12 his family had finally secured a means to leave Leningrad but he was too weak to leave with them. His mother was too sick and his sister too young to help him as they left for Vologda. Yura's sister survived the siege but his mother died shortly after their evacuation. It is likely that Yura died in Leningrad after his family left, but that is not known.