As part of patriotic education and familiarisation with Russian history, students of the Faculty of Foreign Students visited the Museum of Military Glory. This event, organised on the initiative of Aleksey Khomyakov with the support of Associate Professor of the Department of Russian Language and Intercultural Communication Anna Komarova and Specialist of Academic Affairs Ekaterina Simonova, became an important step in understanding the tragic pages of modern history and the heroic past of the country.

      The main part of the visit was a memorial event dedicated to the tragedy of 1 September 2004 in Beslan (a town in North Ossetiya, Southern Russia). At that time, the terrorists took more than 1300 hostages, mostly students, their parents and school teachers. Students listened with bated breath to the story about the horrific terrorist attack that claimed hundreds of innocent lives, how the hostages spent three long days in a mined gym without food and water. A lot of famous people tried to negotiate with the terrorists and negotiate the release of people suffering from mortifying heat and thirst. Each student imagined themselves in the place of the desperate relatives of the captives and admired the bravery of the police officers and special forces soldiers who stormed the school and destroyed the terrorists.

      For many of the foreign students, it was their first acquaintance with the scale of the tragedy, which caused a deep emotional response and an awareness of the value of human life. For the future doctors, the descriptions of the suffering of the wounded were especially difficult to hear. The event was particularly touching as students representing different cultures and traditions mourned the victims of terrorism together, demonstrating that memory and compassion have no national boundaries.

      After the memorial event, the museum director Vladimir Ogorodnikov gave the students a tour of the main exhibition and gave a lecture on the military exploits of the people of Kirov during the Great Patriotic War and local conflicts. The international guests were especially impressed by the opportunity to touch genuine historical artifacts.The event became for them not just an excursion, but a profound lesson in history, humanity, and the enduring value of peace.