International Nurses Day was established in 1971 and is celebrated in honor of English nurse Florence Nightingale on her birthday, May 12, 1820. She became famous for her work during the Crimean War. However, during the same war, Russian nurse Darya Mikhaylova, known as Dasha Sevastopolskaya, also made her mark.

One day she learned of her father's death, a sailor, in the Battle of Sinop. On that same day, the 18-year-old girl decided to dedicate her life to saving Russian soldiers and officers. She sold her father's house, bought several horses, and equipped a convoy filled with blankets, linen, medicines, and bottles of vinegar and wine. In 1854, Darya set off to the shores of Alma, where one of the toughest battles of the Crimean War, the Battle of Alma, was taking place. The soldiers nicknamed her convoy the "carriage of sorrow," but it became the first field dressing station in the world.

Famous surgeon Nikolai Pirogov recalled her: "There was a shortage of doctors, no transport to deliver the wounded to hospitals, and they often remained without help. Dasha would come to them like a bright angel, like the last hope. Until the end of the war, she did not leave the battlefield, bandaging the wounded and comforting them: 'Hang in there, dear, everything will be alright, sweetheart.'" The fame of the fearless nurse quickly spread throughout Crimea. Soldiers nicknamed her Dasha Sevastopolskaya. She showed incredible compassion, helping not only Russians but also the English, French, Turks, and Italians.

Her feat amazed Nicholas I. By the emperor's decree, she was awarded a gold medal inscribed "For Diligence" and a prize of 500 rubles in silver. During the war, Darya met her one true love, private Maxim Khorostov. For their wedding, the emperor gifted them an additional 1000 rubles as a dowry. Dasha Sevastopolskaya remains a legend in domestic history.