How the Victim Assistance Center works at Crocus City Hall. Reportage

The morning after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, the Victim Assistance Center began operating. All weekend people were going there – not only to get help, but also to offer it. Now the influx of people has subsided a little, and the center staff found time to talk with a Kommersant correspondent. Polina Yachmennikova. They talked about the questions victims of the terrorist attack are asking – and how the solidarity of Russians inspires hope.

The victim assistance center at Crocus City Hall began operating on March 23, the morning after the terrorist attack. It opened on the basis of the Moscow Region branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation (engaged in social support for Northern Military District veterans and their families) in the Kubik business center. Now they help with processing payments and provide consultations with psychologists, lawyers and funeral service specialists.

“Kubik” is located ten minutes on foot from the “Myakinino” metro station. A volunteer is on duty at the exit from the station – he explains how to get to the desired building. And then he quietly asks the Kommersant correspondent: “And you there were there then, right?” After a negative answer, the young man noticeably relaxes and embarrassedly admits: “They usually ask me how to approach the memorial, but they haven’t asked me about the help center yet. But other volunteers said that sometimes people who were at Crocus come up to them, just for support and to talk. And I’m worried that I won’t have anything to say to them.”

At the entrance to the center, all visitors are greeted by a girl psychologist. She asks what request the person came with and clarifies whether psychological consultation is needed first. “Today a woman called on the phone and just cried for ten minutes; she couldn’t explain what her question was. Sent to me. Only after this was it possible to find out that she needed advice on payments,” the girl gave an example. “Even today a young man came, he returned from the North Military District, was at a concert with his wife and daughter. They are now in a state of shock, and he also needs to be reassured, to make it clear that he did everything he could in this situation. And it’s not his fault for the condition of his wife and daughter.” The psychologist herself nervously fiddles with the pendant on her neck: “You know, you need a lot of experience to work with trauma. And on such a scale it’s unusual for us – it always seems like you can’t cope. But we have no choice.”

A little further is the counter of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers (FPA). As Kommersant told, the Russian Bar offered free legal assistance to all victims of the terrorist attack and relatives of the victims; More than 400 specialists signed up to volunteer. The last time this happened was during a fire in the Kemerovo shopping center “Winter Cherry” in 2018 (60 people died). The head of a group of volunteer lawyers, FPA adviser Irina Fast previously told Kommersant that lawyers are still helping injured Kemerovo residents for free. The experience of Winter Cherry will help lawyers in their work on the Crocus case, says Ms. Fast. “Nowadays, not many victims think about the legal aspects; they need to solve other problems. Our help will be especially in demand at the next stages,” the lawyer suggests. But he adds that requests are already coming in: “People ask how to obtain custody of children whose parents died in a terrorist attack. How to obtain information that a person is missing. How to block the bank cards of parents on such lists. There was a question from a SVO participant who flew in to submit genetic material for examination in order to identify a deceased relative. He needed to understand how he could stay in Moscow until the funeral, because the examination took quite a long time, and he already had to return to the combat zone.”

The deputy head of the Defenders of the Fatherland branch, Artem Isaev, shows a Kommersant correspondent the call center, psychological assistance rooms and other premises. Behind the next door suddenly appears an apartment with a kitchen. “We install such systems for combat veterans, and this is a demonstration model,” explains Mr. Isaev. “But now we have a mess here.” In the demonstration kitchen there is a very real microwave and coffee machine, on the table is someone’s half-eaten lunch, and under it is a filled trash can. “All this time we ate on the run, adapted all the free surfaces in the offices,” says Artem Isaev. “Today it has become noticeably calmer, and on the first day, while everything was being lined up, people were working on the floor. In general, our employees have extensive experience, because we help the wives and mothers of those killed in the combat zone. Our social consultants know how to work with loss and other similar issues, but this has not happened on such a scale before.” Later he adds: “I spent the whole evening yesterday thinking about what a great experience it is for our branch to work with such an influx of people and requests. When the SVO ends, demobilization is announced and the fighters return, we will already understand how to act on a large scale.”

A priest, the rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral in the Pavshinskaya floodplain, Vasily Losev, enters the room. He hugs the foundation’s employees, and they immediately begin to discuss their joint work. “On Saturday it will be nine days since the tragedy, we will have a memorial service. Send people to us so that they can pray together,” the rector suggests. Later, he explains to a Kommersant correspondent that the temple in Pavshinskaya floodplain is very close to the foundation’s branch, so they have been cooperating for a long time. “And at the time of the tragedy, people ran into our church and tried to escape. We are across the bridge from Crocus. There were about 60 people,” he recalls. “We had them for about an hour until it was clear where to go. So we were close from the first minutes.” The rector says that on weekends the flow of people in the center was noticeably greater, so one of the priests was constantly on duty here. “People came to them all weekend,” he says. “Those who managed to escape and those who came to lay flowers at the memorial came. Relatives of the victims also came. There were also those who were interested in how they could help.”

The parish of the temple together with the foundation has long been organizing mutual aid meetings, where relatives of the deceased participants of the SVO can “have a heart-to-heart talk, share their pain, since they understand each other best.” “We are going to organize the same for the relatives of those killed in the terrorist attack, for the victims,” says the rector. “They need to understand that they are not alone. Life must win, it always wins. We try to remind people of this.”

The head of the foundation’s branch, Olga Ermakova, invites a Kommersant correspondent to her office: “It’s quieter there, we can talk.” Immediately the head physician of the Central Clinical Psychiatric Hospital named after. F.A. Usoltseva Ilgiz Timerbulatov – his specialists also provide assistance at the center. “Keep posted. It’s calm for now, but again you may need help, even medication. We will immediately increase the number of doctors,” the doctor promises. Olga Ermakova explains to a Kommersant correspondent: in the first days, people came in such a state that they had to involve psychiatrists who could provide medication assistance.

“It so happened that the foundation is located next to the site of the tragedy, so we set up a center. We already knew how to work with different services and manage them together. At six in the morning on Saturday, employees began to arrive, and by eight they managed to prepare everything for the opening,” she recalls. According to her, people turned to the center not only for help: “On Saturday a girl runs in: “Tell me, how can I help, do I need help?” Just a person from the street. And there were many of them.” They brought a lot of food to the center, motorists offered to help, “pick up, drop off, we coordinated everyone,” business representatives called. “We referred everyone who offered personal help to volunteers in the Moscow region,” says Ms. Ermakova. “They also helped us a lot, and they are constantly on duty at the memorial – these are people of all ages, from schoolchildren to pensioners.”

The Kommersant correspondent recalled the fears of a volunteer at the metro, who was afraid of not finding the right words.

“While still working with the foundation’s wards, we clearly understood: the stupidest thing you can say is the phrase “I understand you.” Nobody understands their pain. It’s impossible to understand,” says Mrs. Ermakova. “But we can lend a helping hand—literally, just hold a person’s hand.” And we try our best.”

Escorting the Kommersant correspondent to the exit, Ms. Ermakova shows a children’s module with pyramids and snakes: “It appeared here by accident. A girl came to a psychologist for a consultation with her daughter. The girl, no more than two years old, has no one to leave with. But you can’t go to a psychologist with your child; it’s a serious conversation. So we remembered this toy and placed it in front of the office so that the child had something to do. The girl then caught me, she started to gurgle that her tights were wet, and there was a fuss around, everyone was busy. I took off her tights, ran to wash them, and then dried them on the radiator in the office. During these few days, we all acted like one family – both employees and visitors. I am very grateful to everyone for this.” Saying goodbye, Olga Ermakova adds: “During all this time, it was clear: against the backdrop of all the horror and death, life continues to spin, and people are ready to unite and help. This gives me hope.”

By Tuesday evening, the hotline had received more than 2 thousand calls, 240 people came to the center in person, 52 people had already received payments from the Moscow region, the regional government reported.

“Technical issues are now being resolved; all it takes is a phone call. Things are already being handed out, the first shock has passed. But when all the dead are identified, and the victims come to their senses and are discharged from hospitals, we expect a new influx of requests,” employees of the help center told Kommersant.

On the way back to the metro, the Kommersant correspondent noticed that the district Ferris wheel had resumed operation. “They launched it last night,” said a coffee shop employee who was smoking in the backyard. “People are returning to normal life. They come to us and say they want to see that everything is going on. To overcome fear after tragedy. You too come by sometime.”