The Road of Life (Доро́га жи́зни, doroga zhizni) was the ice road transport routes across Lake Ladoga to Leningrad during the Second World War. They were the only Soviet winter surface routes into the city while it was besieged by the German Army Group North under Feldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. The routes brought in supplies necessary to sustain life and resistance inside the Leningrad pocket, and evacuated non-combatants, wounded, and industrial equipment. Over 1.3 million people, mainly women and children, were evacuated during the siege over the roads.