On 2 December 2005, Commander of the Leningrad Military District Lieutenant General I.E. Puzanov met with Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky to discuss questions for further cooperation between the museum and the military district in the spread of cultural and patriotic values.

The discussions focused in particular on the military district’s participation in the development of the Hermitage’s Museum of the Guards. Another subject was the common effort to ensure observance of the Regulations on the Use of Palace Square and the Protection of Cultural and Historical Heritage Buildings located there during large public gatherings.