On Nurse's Day, May 12, 2026, the TASS news agency in Moscow hosted a press conference dedicated to the ministry of nurses. The meeting participants discussed the importance of charitable ministry in modern Russia, the role of sisters of mercy in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and hospitals, and also presented the first joint special project of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service and TASS.
The press conference was attended by Archpriest Mikhail Potokin, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, Vladimir Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations and the Media, Andrey Plutnitsky, Deputy Minister of Health of Russia, Alexey Zarov, Director and Chief Physician of the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, as well as the first Deputy head website editors tass.ru Alexander Svyazin.
Opening the conversation about the new special project, Archpriest Mikhail Potokin emphasized that his main task is to show a living example of merciful service.
"In our project, we wanted to show a living example of merciful service. The sisters of mercy find their vocation in him. They help in places where it is very difficult — hospices, hospitals, nursing homes. Where attention and care for a person is especially needed, so that a person understands that he is not alone in his illnesses and sufferings," he noted.
Vladimir Legoyda drew attention to the special importance of works of charity for the Church and to the fact that the very appearance of such a joint project with the country's largest news agency indicates important changes in public life.
"Today we are presenting a joint project of the Russian Orthodox Church and the country's largest news agency. I understand perfectly well that 15 years ago this would most likely have been impossible. For the Church, works of mercy have a special status — the status of direct interaction with God. And the fact that we are talking about this today, and we are not talking formally, but with love, shows how our society has changed in recent years," he said.
First Deputy Head of the editorial office of the website tass.ru Alexander Svyazin told how the special project was created. According to him, the work on the materials allowed us to see the history and modernity of the nursing ministry in a new way.
"When we delved deep into the subject — we found archival photographs of nurses in hospitals during the First World War, went to Gorlovka and took pictures of one of our modern sisters of mercy — we saw how unique this service is. We realized that it was impossible not to talk about it," stressed Alexander Svyazin.
Andrey Plutnitsky, Deputy Minister of Health of Russia, congratulated the nurses on their professional holiday and noted the importance of the nurses' work for the healthcare system.
"Medical activity is impossible without a nurse. But the influence of the spiritual component of treatment on the recovery of people should in no way be underestimated. We are grateful to the Russian Orthodox Church for the support of the sisters of mercy, who have been helping us not only in hospitals, but also in the conflict zone all these years. I wish you and your families good health. May the Lord strengthen you in the good deeds that you have made the benchmark of your life," said Andrei Plutnitsky.
Alexey Zarov, director and chief physician of St. Alexy's Hospital, noted that the ministry of the sisters of mercy requires not only a mental willingness to help, but also professional training. According to him, the St. Alexy's Hospital Training Center has already trained more than 9,000 specialists in the care of the seriously ill and the wounded. Training is provided free of charge, and training centers operate not only in Moscow, but also in other regions, including Crimea, the LPR and the DPR, the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. In total, the training was conducted in 150 cities.
The presented special project is dedicated to the service of the sisters of mercy in the Russian Empire and modern Russia. It brings together archival materials, historical evidence, and contemporary stories of people who continue the tradition of charitable service where attention, care, and human involvement are most needed.