By one calculation one hundred thousand people were buried at the cemetery during the siege, though the true figure may perhaps be two or three times higher. The dead were buried in mass graves, often trenches that had been blasted out of the frozen ground with explosives during winter. When the siege was lifted the bells of the church rang for two days, the first time they had been heard since the Soviet government banned bell ringing in 1933. After the war the cemetery became one of the main burial locations for the city, and expanded significantly, eventually covering fifty nine hectares, and today is mostly full, with most interments being in existing family plots. New burials generally take place in the northern part of the cemetery. A new chapel, to Saint George, was built in 1999, the first stone being laid on 15 February 1999, the 10th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. It opened that same year on 2 August, the Day of the Airborne Forces, opposite the Afghan War memorial, itself inaugurated in 1996, sponsored by the veterans' association "Afganvet". Nataliya Danilova, of the University of Aberdeen, writes that "The unique character of the Cemetery is its ability to function as a place for both public commemoration and private grief." She notes that "from the 1990s onwards, the Serafimovskoe Cemetery has functioned as a major regional site for military commemoration." A memorial to the victims of the siege was opened the right of the main cemetery entrance on 27 January 1965, the 21st anniversary of the lifting of the siege. A four-span portico sits on a high base, with five monumental sculptures depicting the defenders and workers of Leningrad. In front of the portico is a granite cube with an eternal flame and a platform paved with black labradorite. It stands on the site of sixteen mass graves from the time of the siege. The Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery is the usual place for the main commemorations of the siege, with the Seraphimovskoe Cemetery often commemorating other military events, including Victory Day on 9 May, the anniversary of the withdrawal from Afghanistan (15 February), the deaths of troops from the 76th Guards Air Assault Division in the Battle for Height 776 during the Second Chechen War (1 March), the Day of the Airborne Forces (2 August) and the foundation of the OMON (4 October). The cemetery contains many monuments dedicated to naval officers and professors of the Naval Academy. The few surviving graves from the pre-war period are located along one of the alleys, and include nuns and novices of the St. John Convent on the Karpovka River.