Lena Mukhina (born in Ufa, 21 November 1924; died in Moscow, 5 August 1991) was a Russian schoolgirl whose diary records her life during the Siege of Leningrad. Her entries run from 21 May 1941 to 25 May 1942, and their value lies in showing the everyday life of a teenager in the besieged city.
She lived with her aunt and an elderly family friend in a communal apartment on Mokhavaya Street. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, hunger became constant: the household lived on hot gruel, bread and sweets, and in December they killed and ate their pet cat. In January 1942 the family friend died, and in February the aunt died. Mukhina survived by using her late aunt's food ration coupons and, in June 1942, she was evacuated across Lake Ladoga to join relatives in Moscow, where she lived until her death in 1991.
The diary stayed in a state archive after an unknown donor handed it over in 1962, until Sergei Yarov found it there. It has since been published in many languages.