In 2019, a monument was unveiled in Stavropol on Morozova Street to three selfless women who saved hundreds of lives of Russian soldiers at different times. The names of the heroic nurses Yulia Vrevskaya, Rimma Ivanova, and Matryona Nazdracheva are closely linked to the capital of Stavropol region.

The idea of creating a monument to these women arose in 2015 among members of the regional branch of the Russian Military Historical Society. The design of the monument was entrusted to the talented sculptor, member of the Union of Artists of Russia Ivan Kislichenko.

At the solemn opening ceremony of the monument, one high-ranking official noted: "This memorial symbolizes our memory of the feat of people who helped those in need during difficult times." Indeed, the lives of these women deserve remembrance and attention.

Yulia Vrevskaya

Yulia Petrovna Vrevskaya (née Varpakhovskaya) was born in 1838 in Poltava province to the family of the hero of the Borodino battle, General-Lieutenant Pyotr Evdokimovich Varpakhovsky. In 1848, her family moved to Stavropol, where Yulia entered the "St. Alexandra's Secondary Educational Institution for the Education of Women." At 19, she married a veteran of the Caucasian War, a friend of M.Yu. Lermontov, Baron Ippolit Vrevsky, who died a year after their wedding from wounds. The widow cared for three children from her husband's previous marriage throughout her life.

From 1860 to 1870, Yulia Petrovna served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Maria Alexandrovna and befriended notable figures such as I.A. Turgenev and I.K. Aivazovsky. During her travels in Europe, she met Victor Hugo and Franz Liszt.

Her life changed with the start of the Russo-Turkish War. In 1877, Yulia Petrovna sold her estate in Oryol province and used the proceeds to equip a sanitary unit, enlisting as a private nurse. In frontline hospitals, she took on the heaviest work. In January 1878, while working in an evacuation hospital near the Bulgarian town of Byala, she contracted typhus and soon died. She was buried in the cemetery of the local Orthodox church.

Upon learning of her death, Ivan Turgenev wrote: "She was young, beautiful; high society knew her; even dignitaries inquired about her. Life smiled at her; but sometimes smiles are worse than tears." Victor Hugo called her the "Russian Rose."

Rimma Ivanova

Rimma Ivanova was born in 1894 in Stavropol to a government official's family. At the Olginskaya Women's Gymnasium, she demonstrated leadership qualities and became the top student in her class. Once, while walking with friends, she saved a drowning person by jumping into the water.

After graduating, Rimma worked as a teacher until the outbreak of World War I. She planned to study in St. Petersburg but instead completed a course for nurses and worked in the Stavropol hospital.

In January 1915, under the name Ivan Mikhailovich Ivanov, she went to the front. Her deception was soon uncovered, but the command left her at the front lines. Rimma showed courage in rescuing the wounded and became the mascot of the Samur Regiment. For this, she received two St. George's medals.

In September 1915, while serving in the 105th Infantry Orenburg Regiment, she took command after the officers were killed and led the soldiers into an attack, where she perished. Emperor Nicholas II posthumously awarded her the Order of St. George 4th class. Many people, including the top officials of the province, attended her funeral in Stavropol.

Matryona Nazdracheva

Matryona Semyonovna Necheporchukova, born in the village of Volchiy Yar near Kharkov, confirmed her calling by studying at the Balakleevskaya Midwifery and Nursing School. After graduating in 1941, she worked as a nurse in a district hospital during the German occupation.

In 1943, when the Red Army entered the Kharkov region, Matryona joined its ranks. In the battles for the Dnieper, she carried 24 severely wounded soldiers from under fire and saved 49 fighters. In 1945 in Germany, after sustaining serious injuries, she continued to rescue soldiers while shooting back at the enemy, carrying out 78 wounded.

In two years of war, she received the Medal for Courage, three Orders of Glory, and other awards. At the end of the war, she married her comrade Viktor Stepanovich Nazdrachev. Since 1977, she lived in Stavropol and died in 2017 at the age of 93.