City of Thieves Setting

I have just started reading a new book, City of Thieves, and so far it is very interesting and suspenseful. The book is set in a city in Russia called Leningrad (now know as St. Petersburg) during World War II. In this setting, the city is surrounded by the Germans, who cut off all of their food and supplies, leaving them starving. An example of the city's conditions is, "The shutters themselves had been torn down for firewood in November. There was no more scrap wood in Leningrad. Every wood sign, the slats of the park benches, the floorboards of shattered buildings - all gone and burning in someone's stove. The pigeons were missing, too, caught and stewed in melted ice from the Neva." This shows just how desperate they are. Everyone is scavenging for anything they can use to keep themselves warm. The citizens are even catching pigeons to eat since there is nothing else that they can snack on.