The sisters of Mercy of the Nikolsky Sisterhood of Tatarstan serve in the trauma center of the Republican Clinical Hospital, where members of the SVO who are seriously injured are being treated. Currently, about 300 soldiers are being treated at the RCB.
The sisters provide sanitary and hygienic care, talk to the soldiers on various topics, and help them prepare for the sacraments of the church.
"Both the staff and the fighters will recognize us in the RCB. We were given sanitary rooms on two floors for service. We carry out hygienic procedures in these rooms. I wash the bedridden fighters right in the wards. The sisterhood has purchased the necessary equipment for this. We try to communicate with the guys on various topics. They mostly talk about their families and children. Some, of course, are very burdened by what they had to go through in the war. We suggest that the soldiers unburden their souls, confess, and prepare for Holy Communion. Some people begin to receive the sacraments in the hospital for the first time in many years of their lives," says Anna Khasanova, Sister of Mercy of the Nikolsky Sisterhood.
Anna combines her sisterhood with various obediences at the Resurrection New Jerusalem Compound. Earlier, Anna traveled to Rostov-on-Don, where she also took care of the wounded. Now, assistance is increasingly needed in their home region. Soldiers with various injuries are constantly being brought to Kazan. At the front, they have heard about the skills of Tatarstan doctors, who literally work miracles.
"Doctors at the frontline hospital wanted to amputate an arm and leg for one of the current RCB patients, but they still did not do it and sent them to Kazan for treatment. Our doctors saved the soldier's arm and leg. During the year, the fighter underwent 11 operations. He's still in a wheelchair, but he's not losing his optimism. This cheerful, kind person can charge you like a battery," says Anna.
Every sister of mercy who serves in the hospitals where the participants of the SVR lie can share stories about amazing people, about hearts full of courage, loyalty and love. The sisterhood notes that it is precisely where there is so much sorrow and pain that God's love and mercy are felt most acutely.