Natalia Vladimirovna Malysheva was born in Crimea, in the family of a zemstvo doctor. Since childhood, I have been involved in swimming and gymnastics, skiing, and shooting. Graduated from nursing courses. Even before the war, Natalya Vladimirovna entered the Moscow Aviation Institute.

In 1941 she went to the front. She served in divisional intelligence in the Volokolamsk direction. In June 1942, she was sent to a 3-month course at the intelligence school in Gireevo. After them, she served in the army intelligence of the 16th Army (2 formations), commanded by Rokossovsky. She finished the war as a lieutenant.

After the Victory, until 1949, she served in Poland, in Upper Silesia. In 1949 they were transferred to Potsdam.

After leaving the army, she returned to MAI immediately for her third year, graduated and began working as a distribution designer for rocket engines at NII-88 in Podlipki (now Korolev). Natalya Vladimirovna has worked in this field for 35 years. Design engineer Malysheva participated in the creation of engines for maneuvering and braking in orbit of the first ballistic missiles and spacecraft, including for Gagarin’s Vostok. She was the only woman on the state commission for testing missile systems. N.V. Malysheva participated in the creation of engines for the S-75 anti-aircraft missile system of Peter Grushin. She was awarded an order for this engine.

In retirement, she helped organize the courtyard of the Holy Dormition Pyukhtitsa Convent in Moscow and remained here to serve as a simple nun, taking monastic vows under the name Adrian. Mother Adriana became the laureate of the international award “For Faith and Fidelity”, established by the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation.

Source: WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia

Mother ADRIANA (Malysheva): interview

We bring to the attention of our readers Mother’s amazing story about the Great Patriotic War.

First miracle

This was during the days of the battle of Moscow.

It seems to me that I still feel the excitement that we all felt in the first minutes of anxious anticipation when our comrades went on reconnaissance. Suddenly, shooting was heard. Then it became quiet again. Suddenly, through the snowstorm, we saw a comrade hobbling - Sasha, one of those who had gone on reconnaissance, was walking towards us. He looked terrible: without a hat, with a face distorted in pain. He said that they stumbled upon the Germans and Yura, the second scout, was seriously wounded in the leg. Sasha’s wound was lighter, but he still couldn’t bear his comrade. Having dragged him to a sheltered place, he himself hobbled with difficulty to us for a message. We are numb: how to save Yura? After all, it was necessary to get to it through the snow without camouflage.

And the words of the commander immediately surfaced in my mind: “Don’t leave your comrade...”

I don’t know how it happened, but I quickly began to take off my outerwear, leaving only warm white underwear. She grabbed the bag that contained the emergency kit. She put a grenade in her bosom (to avoid capture), pulled on her belt and rushed along the trail left by Sasha in the snow. They didn’t have time to stop me, although they tried.

He's waiting for help, he can't be left there! - she said as she walked, as if obeying an imperious inner order, although fear squeezed her heart.

When I found Yura, he opened his eyes and whispered: “Oh, she’s here! And I thought you abandoned me!”

And so he looked at me, he had such eyes that I realized that if this happens again, I will go again and again, just to see such gratitude and happiness in his eyes again.

We had to crawl through a place that was being shot at by the Germans. I crawled through it quickly alone, but what about the two of us? The wounded man had one leg broken, the other leg and arms were intact. I tied his leg with a tourniquet, connected our belts, and asked him to help me with his hands. We started crawling back.

And suddenly, thick snow began to fall, as if ordered, as if in a theater! The snowflakes stuck together, fell on their paws, and under this snow cover we crawled through the most dangerous place.

Halfway there, our guys rushed towards us, took Yura in their arms, and they had to drag me too - my strength left me.

Miraculous Rescue

On the Kursk Bulge I had to listen to German telephone conversations. An escort took me behind the front line. He also had a wiring diagram. Having connected, I listened and remembered everything important that the German command conveyed to its troops. Then she returned to her people and reported what she had heard to headquarters.

Twice such operations were successful. But for the rest of my life I will not forget what happened on my third raid. When I had already passed out and got out of the shelter to wait for darkness to return to my people, I felt with my back that I was not alone. She quickly turned around, snatching a pistol - according to the instructions, she had to commit suicide so as not to be captured - but immediately received a blow to her arm. The German standing in front of me instantly had my pistol. I was petrified with horror: now they will take me to the German headquarters.

Lord, not this!

I didn’t even see what kind of German he was - I couldn’t see his rank or age out of fear. My heart was jumping out of my chest, I almost couldn’t breathe. And suddenly, grabbing me by the shoulders, the German jerked me back to him. “Well, now he’ll shoot,” I thought even with relief. And then she received a strong push in the back. The pistol fell far ahead of me.

I don't fight with girls! Take a pistol, otherwise your own people will shoot you...

I was stunned, turned around and saw a long figure walking into the depths of the forest.

My legs did not obey me, and I, stumbling, wandered to the place where, in the darkness, I could go out to my people. On the way, I restored myself to a more or less normal state and returned as usual. I was smart enough not to tell anyone about what happened. Then, much later, I shared it with close friends. The son of one of them, who later became a monk, uttered words that became a revelation to me not so long ago:

Have you still not realized that the Lord has been protecting you all the time, and someone has been praying earnestly for you and your salvation?..

The front line is a myth

The front line is not at all what it is usually imagined to be. In reality, it simply doesn't exist. It's something visual. We ourselves determined: here is our side, and there are already the Germans; they themselves found the most favorable places to reach their positions. We never knew for sure whether we had crossed the front line or not yet - we only guessed based on individual signs.

About the main military test

The war gave me a lot to understand. I realized that during the war it was as if a photograph was being developed. Those who have good traits are intensified and often manifest themselves heroically. And those who had something nasty - their features become terrible over time.

About a Person: Anna Danilova about Mother Adrian

LIVE LIFE TO THE MEASURES OF MOTHER ADRIANA

The best and most worthy thing in journalism is the work of a chronicler: to strive to record more (and on video too) of our contemporaries in order to pass on the experience of communicating with them further. But, alas, the norm of life is not a large posthumous archive, but a bewildered: “We never talked, we never wrote it down!”

In September, the Nikeya publishing house released the book “Nun from Intelligence. The life story of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, nun Adriana (Malysheva)”, the author and compiler of which was the editor-in-chief of “Pravmir” Anna Danilova.

I knew that Anna once promised herself to do everything so that as many people as possible would know about Mother Adrian. It seems that this happened today - unfortunately, we could only talk about this and about the book with Anna; On February 4, Mother Adriana went to the Lord.

- Why did you decide not to sign the collection as the author-compiler?
- The book is signed, it’s just that my name is not on the cover. The fact is that, of course, the author of the book is Mother Adriana: the book is compiled from her notes, manuscripts, and numerous stories. I just “stitched” them into a single whole, edited them, and read them out loud to my mother.

At one time, my mother and I thought about rewriting her first-person story into a large artistic narrative, expanding it, adding details - it didn’t work. You don't believe this story. Therefore, in the book the reader “hears” the narrator directly, without an intermediary; I remain the author-compiler. By the way, the entire life story of Mother Adriana was recorded on video, so you can hear the whole book live too!

War as a photograph

Of course, mother, he is an amazing, extraordinary person. You have written about her more than once and interviewed her. But there are still many worthy people in our lives - will you make a book about each of them?
- By the way, I didn’t intend to make a book, I just came for an interview one day. And I put it off for several years - I thought, well, he’s an elderly man, 87-88 years old, he can already hear, it probably doesn’t matter, and it’s difficult to speak. And then I decided that it was necessary. And it turned out that the nun Adriana is a person with the clearest mind, excellent speech, quotes Lermontov, listens to news about politics, knows and remembers everything. And then, during the interview, it became clear that we had to talk about everything. And write down everything we have time to write down!

It would be wonderful to make such a book about every outstanding person. This is my dream. Amazing people leave, so little remains of them, no one really talked to many of them, no one retained the memory of them...

It seems to me that the best and most worthy thing in journalism is the work of a chronicler: to strive to record more (and on video too) of our contemporaries in order to pass on the experience of communicating with them further. How valuable are the records of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh for us, for example, how grateful we are to those who recorded and preserved everything... How dear is L. Lungina’s book “Interlinear” to us...

But, alas, the norm of life is not a large posthumous archive, but a bewildered: “We never talked, we never wrote it down!”

You read the book and are amazed at its simplicity, as if it were ordinary. Yes, of course, the fate of a person - but still, why were you so captivated by her personality and biography?
- Mother Adriana (Malysheva), although she talked about her life very simply, is an absolutely amazing person. A daughter unloved by her mother (her mother dreamed of a boy and for a long time reproached her daughter for being born a girl), she was alone since childhood. From her third year at the Moscow Aviation Institute she went to the front and was assigned to intelligence work.

Battle of Moscow, Kursk, Stalingrad, Germany. She crossed the front line 17 times, once carried a wounded man out from under fire, and the second time miraculously avoided being ambushed. One day a German soldier caught her and... let her go: “I don’t fight with girls!” Her fiancé, Misha Babushkin, died in the first months of the war; she never met another man like him.

After the war, having graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute, she worked in Korolev’s design bureau, designing rocket engines.

She was no longer young when she learned how the son of her fellow soldier took monastic vows - Seryozha became Father Sylvester. And she was so struck by the change that had happened to him that she herself began to read the Gospel. She retired - very late - and began to restore the Pyukhtitsa courtyard in Moscow.

You know, when she was given the obedience to sell books on the street, at first she was very shy and kept pulling her scarf over her eyebrows so that her friends wouldn’t see - she was a major, a famous engineer - and she was selling books on the street. She ended her life in the rank of angel - she became the nun Adriana. In general, everything about her journey amazes me, every step, every episode...

I remember some time ago you said that you would try to do everything to “glorify” (relatively speaking) mother. Do you consider your promise fulfilled?
- Not to glorify, but to collect as much as possible that can be collected! I think that the intention has been fulfilled, but not completely. I will really look forward to the memories of those who knew my mother for many years. After all, I met her only in the last year of my life. I hope that there will be many memories, stories, and the second edition of the book will be significantly expanded.

For some time now we have been talking about zeroing out historical memory. And from this point of view, the book “Mother Adriana” is certainly important. On the other hand, it seems to me that such literature has a rather narrow consumer audience - Orthodox aunties. Or I'm wrong?
- Mother Adriana herself, I must say, loved smart male communication more. But it seems to me that this is not a woman’s story at all, not an “auntie’s” story, although there is also a love story in the book. This is such a sketch of the era - there is the war, and the Korolev Design Bureau, and a wonderful portrait of Marshal Rokossovsky, and the drama of family relationships, the loneliness of a child, and the revival of faith in Russia - all - in such a small, in general, segment of text...

How the book began

How in demand is this genre of memoirs today? Maybe it makes sense to turn this story into a series?
- You remembered about resetting historical memory. We know catastrophically little even about what happened a couple of years ago... And history in general exists for us in dates, numbers, changes in systems and formations - so it’s surprising how little we know history... History, time, era through a person, through his life, his perception of the world - this, in my opinion, is the main opposition to nullification and unconsciousness.

Of course, it is unlikely that it will be possible to make a series, but we should all try to preserve everything that can be preserved - and not only writers and journalists.

- What did communicating with your mother give you personally?
- 8 most eventful months of life...

Do you remember that Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh has a story about how one woman - Natalia - hid her mother with two small children, for whom the Nazis were supposed to come? When she saw this family for the first time, she told them to run and said that she would impersonate this woman. “You have two children, they need you,” said Natalia.

They came for her and they shot her. The children grew up, and the daughter told Bishop Anthony this story. What made Natalia give her life for strangers whom she saw for the first time in her life? And the children preserved her image and understood that we must live within her limits. To the extent of this unknown Natalia, who gave her life for them - without a single doubt.

Here we are with Mother Adriana. I would like to live at least a little in its measure...

Maria Sveshnikova talked with Anna Danilova

How did a Soviet atheist intelligence officer decide to become a nun? What did she experience during the Great Patriotic War? And what happened to her in recent years? The Moscow Trust TV channel prepared a special report.

Not of this world

Former intelligence major Natalya Malysheva at the end of her life became a real star: a book was published about her, a famous artist painted her portrait, the patriarch wanted to meet her. And all because, being at the peak of her career, unexpectedly for everyone, the atheist intelligence officer went to a monastery.

“She is a little different from our stereotype of an old man or old woman, she was a very good example of life,” says Vladimir Mishchenko, vice-president of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation.

Natalya Malysheva

She went through the Great Patriotic War without a single injury. She was personally entrusted with secret missions by Marshal Rokossovsky. Not a single bullet took Natalya Malysheva, but the Germans grabbed her and let her go. She did not attach any importance to these miracles for many years, until one day she went to church.

Eve of the 1990s. Natalya Malysheva became seriously ill. She faces complete paralysis. This happens literally before the elections of deputies to the Supreme Soviet of Russia. She withdraws her candidacy. It turns out it was a sign from above.

Natalya Malysheva remains aloof from politics. He doesn’t date anyone, and at first he almost never leaves the house. But the worst predictions will not come true, and when she is able to move, she will go to the nearest temple.

The secret visits to the church that she has been making for the past few years can already be made explicit.

“She told how she came to God. They came with their front-line friend to dissuade her son, at that time, in my opinion, he was a novice, to dissuade him from this hole, from the Yaroslavl region, to come back to St. Petersburg , at that time Leningrad. And she says: “We are sitting in this hut in which he rented a corner, and then he comes in - as tall as the ceiling, in this black robe, such huge blue eyes... And that’s all,” recalls Vladimir Mishchenko .

Father Sylvester could not have imagined then how this meeting would turn the life of Aunt Natasha, whom he had known since childhood, upside down. When his parents' fellow soldiers gathered at home, she was always taciturn.

“Always a very collected person, very attentive, very extraordinary. Little could be found out about her, she was always classified as “Secret,” says Archimandrite Sylvester.

Steel Woman

Photographer Ivan Chernov is a former intelligence officer himself. When I met Mother Adriana, this name was given to Malysheva after her tonsure, I tried for a long time to find out about her service at the front. But in vain.

“I asked her: “Mother, where did you meet the victory?” “In Germany.” I said: “Where in Germany?” When she said that in Potsdam, I asked: “Mother, where were you? Which part?” – she doesn’t tell me anything,” recalls Ivan Chernov.

Natalya Malysheva

At this time, Chernov himself was in Potsdam, but he did not have to intersect with Malysheva there. As it turned out later, she served on the headquarters of Marshal Rokossovsky. Even at the front, she had to hide from her own people when she went on reconnaissance.

Here she comes out of the unit in uniform, pretending that she is going to the neighboring division. Along the way, she changes into a simple dress to pass as a local. Rokossovsky instructed to infiltrate the nearest village as a liaison. One of the families passed on information from the partisans to the army. The scout who had gone to see them the day before did not return. It was impossible to wait. But Malysheva fails this important task. I didn't understand the password.

“And the password is that the rake will stand with its teeth towards you, which means you can’t go in, but if it’s the back side, then come in, then there will be a connection.” She found all this, saw this rake - it stands edge-on. And then she turned back, and suddenly the rake has turned…” says Ivan Chernov.

She will sit in the bushes for more than an hour, wondering what it means and whether it is possible to enter, but she will still return to headquarters. Along the way he will cry because he is going with nothing. Imagine her surprise when, seeing her, everyone rushes to hug and kiss her. It turns out that the owner of that house surrendered to the Germans, and they were waiting for the messenger in ambush.

Journalist Anna Danilova spent six months painstakingly recording all the stories of Mother Adriana. That unfulfilled task of Rokossovsky is not the first miracle that happened to her during the war.

“She called the first such a miracle an event that happened in the very first days of her stay at the front - this was the battle near Moscow, and this was the case when she saved a wounded man, carried him out from under fire,” says Danilova.

On the verge of life and death

Malysheva is not taken to the front right away. She entered her third year at the Moscow Aviation Institute when the war began. The whole group comes to sign up as volunteers for the army, but they are turned away - they are too young. It seemed that the war would not last long, and the Germans would quickly be defeated. It soon becomes clear that this is not the case.

In October 1941, all volunteers were already accepted for the defense of Moscow. Natalya Malysheva, who is involved in equestrian sports, parachute jumps, shoots and knows how to provide first aid, is offered to go on reconnaissance. On the very first mission, she will save her wounded fellow soldier.

Great Patriotic War, 1941. Photo: ITAR-TASS

“She strips down to her white underwear so that she would be invisible in the snow, runs along the tracks to where the wounded man lies, she ran up there quickly, she is not particularly visible in the white snow, and therefore avoided the shelling. How to crawl back? Suddenly it began to snow, unexpectedly, and with such a solid white wall that it was Natasha Malysheva who tied this fellow soldier to her, and they barely crossed this place, covered with an absolutely white wall of snow,” says Anna Danilova.

Malysheva turned out to be a godsend for intelligence. It turns out that she also speaks German fluently. In Stalingrad, when Soviet troops took the city, Malysheva walks the streets and calls on the remnants of the Nazis to surrender. They shout after her: “Traitor!”

More than once at the front she goes alone to tap German telephone lines. One day such an outing almost became her last.

“And then the German caught her while she was bugging her. At that moment she was hit in the back with a machine gun from the German. She realized that she was finished, she was about to be shot - she was caught at the scene of the crime. “All of me,” she says, “I remember right now, cowered, took the pistol to shoot herself." He noticed her hand movement, snatched the pistol, took it for himself, and then suddenly said to her: “In general, I don’t fight with girls, get out of here.” She didn’t believe in her unexpected salvation, unexpected joy, and says: “I cowered, expecting a bullet in the back, and began to move away from him towards the forest.” And he says to her: “Stop.” She says: “I stopped, he took out a pistol and said: “Take your weapons, otherwise your own people will shoot you if you return without your service weapon,” says artist Alexander Shilov.

She will hide this story for many years. She will also hide the fact that after the war she went to prisoner-of-war camps and looked for the officer who did not kill her.

After the war

This is how the artist Alexander Shilov saw Mother Scout. She called herself a modern nun. She did not renounce the war, she continued to be interested in social life. This portrait was painted in 2010, two years before her death.

A.M. Shilov "For Faith and Fatherland"

“I was so, you know, pleasantly surprised. She understood that she had to sit well, it was, of course, hard for her, after all, she was nearly 90 years old. She joined these orders, these orders, I say, are a memory of the war, she tells a young believer girl how she fought. And you know, even this picture is often approached, just don’t think that I’m bragging, they look and pray at it like an icon, they say: “Some kind of light comes from it.” Indeed. , some kind of inner light came from Mother Adriana, such a spiritual inner light,” says Alexander Shilov.

Anatoly Prasolov was once her subordinate. She officially left intelligence, returned to the Moscow Aviation Institute, and upon graduation ended up in the design bureau. Rocket engines were developed here.

When years later, former colleagues found out that she had given up her career and gone to a monastery, they didn’t believe it, they thought it was rumors until they read it in the newspapers.

“We were, in general, surprised and, perhaps, even proud,” says the deputy head of the department of the Chemical Engineering Design Bureau named after. A.M. Isaeva Anatoly Prasolov.

In the 50s, at the Malysheva design bureau he headed the development of surface-to-air combat missiles. You won’t find her in her office: she personally monitors all experimental work. She, the only female boss, again, as if on the front line, tries not to yield to the men.

“As a rule, we did not work with distilled water, the components sometimes spoiled both the appearance and the clothes. And I remember such a case that after the next test at the bench base we looked and said: “Natalya Vladimirovna...” - the tights were unsuitable. We had to work in such unusual conditions for female staff,” recalls Prasolov.

The secret of personal life

Scout and photographer Ivan Chernov, after meeting Mother Adriana, found some inconsistencies in her biography. As a leading designer of rocket engines, she often visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the team of Sergei Korolev. The veteran explains it this way...

“The only one Korolev took for testing was her, just one woman. Can you imagine? I understood this: he couldn’t help but take her at certain points. So, it was no coincidence that she ended up there. This way - they don’t resign, but everyone they work," says Ivan Chernov.

Sergei Korolev with his mother, 1950. Photo: ITAR-TASS

Most of the information about her is still closed. Perhaps, in parallel with her work in the design bureau, she continued to serve in intelligence.

But we managed to find out that Adriana’s mother was married. She didn’t like to talk about it, and until the end of her life she kept a photograph of her first fiancé, Mikhail Babushkin. Even in his cell, his photograph stood in a prominent place.

“He died tragically in the first months of the war. He was a pilot, like his father, Hero of the Soviet Union. And this man was so significant in her life, their relationship was so important that she, in general, didn’t care about him was able to forget, and, having already gotten married, she realized that she could not give such a feeling to her husband,” explains Anna Danilova.

She will live with her colonel husband for only four years. They broke up in 1949. She was accustomed to loneliness since childhood. Natalya Malysheva is the youngest child in the family, and an unloved child. The mother was expecting a boy, and when her second daughter was born, she lost interest in her.

“Her path in the Church was quite fast, a spiritual path. She called when something was not clear. Why is confession needed, why do they take communion, why is the same unction needed, and how often should one go to church, and how to treat to the priest,” says Archimandrite Sylvester.

Conversion

It is after meeting Father Sylvester that she begins to go to the temple from time to time. There is no thought of giving up forever the work and politics into which she was drawn into in the late 80s. But during her illness, bedridden, she will look at her life differently.

“One of her first obediences was to sell books on the street. Well, imagine: a major, with such experience, a member of so many state commissions and so on, this is a respected woman. And suddenly in the middle of Rozhdestvenka Street at a stall with books, yes still in a scarf. For the first months, she pulled the scarf over her eyes so that no one would recognize her: what if one of her friends noticed her. Well, it would be unclear what she was doing as a saleswoman. Then she got used to it, got used to it and began to carry out her obedience with joy , without worrying that someone might recognize her,” says Anna Danilova.

The sale of books then brought a lot of money to the reviving monastery, and there everything had to be literally built from scratch.

Natalya Malysheva

Pyukhtitsa Compound - this is where she came. During the Soviet years there was an architectural institute here. In the early 90s, this place was returned to the Church. Here Natalya Malysheva was tonsured a nun. This courtyard became famous throughout Moscow. As soon as one of the newspapers wrote about the unusual intelligence officer, both journalists and ordinary people flocked to her.

“When Mother Adriana turned 89, I told the girls in the editorial office: “Let’s call after all,” they called, the voice was young, the intonations were very lively: “Of course,” she said, “come.” And it’s very good that you call after May 9, because all those who are before May 9 are in such a hurry. “Everyone, quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, write it down,” and those who call after May 9 are usually able to record, listen, and think about everything in more detail. So come." Amazing clarity of mind, young, cheerful intonations. Excellent use of a mobile phone - you also need to understand, after all, she is 89 years old," recalls Anna Danilova.

And at the first meeting, when they began to question her and write them down, it became clear that it was necessary to write down her entire story.

The recordings of the video interview with Mother Adriana are unique. There are no professional television lights on here, and there is not a layer of makeup on the heroine, but you don’t notice this as soon as she starts speaking. The nun remembers the first person saved.

“His leg was broken. One was completely intact, his arms were intact. I tied him to me and said: “We’ll crawl, just you help me as much as you can, with your arms and legs, otherwise I won’t drag you through.” So again. it will happen, God forbid, it will happen again - I’ll go again, just to see this gratitude in the eyes... It’s such a feeling that he... Let him die even after this, but before his death to know that he is not abandoned, but that they came for him - for this it was even possible to take risks, that’s all,” says nun Adriana.

Love and patience

December 2009. Moscow. Mother Adriana is awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called for faith and fidelity. The hall is standing.

“But she didn’t really prepare, and, in general, somehow she, you know, is not a gallant general - he was in front of her, he was also awarded, but the audience stood up several times and simply applauded, they were so kind words that hooked people so much,” recalls Vladimir Mishchenko.

I was impressed by the speech of the unfamiliar mother and another prize winner, the President of Ingushetia Yunus-bek Evkurov. The Hero of Russia, a military officer, then talked with her the whole evening.

Mother Adriana

“They are talking, he is a handsome young man, and she is so fragile in this chair, but it’s as if two identical people are standing - two warriors, two soldiers. Since then, they have developed such a very subtle, you know, connection : he always congratulated her, sent her telegrams when he could (of course, due to his busyness), came, gave her some of his products from home, from his relatives: some kind of cheese, homemade bread - this is customary East, and only to the closest, dearest people,” says Mishchenko.

On December 12, 2011, the Pyukhtets courtyard was flooded with people: everyone came to congratulate Mother Adriana on her 90th birthday. She prepared for this for a long time: she sorted out photographs, finished a book of memories, called all her friends. She seemed to have a premonition that this holiday would be her last. Two months later she was gone.

“There are such beautiful prayers: “Lord, give me peace of mind to face everything that the coming day will bring me. Let me completely surrender to your holy will for every hour of this day, in everything. Instruct and support me, no matter what news I receive during the day, let me accept it with a calm soul and the firm conviction that everything is your holy will. In all my words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings in all unforeseen cases, do not let me forget that everything was sent down by you. Teach me to act directly and wisely with every person, without confusing or upsetting anyone. Help me bear the fatigue of the coming day and all the events during the day. Guide my will and teach me to pray, believe, hope, endure, forgive and love." Isn't this a miracle?" - says nun Adriana.

She would never have believed that she would end her life in a monastic cell. The intelligence officer, whose main virtue in her profession is the ability to remain silent, at the end of her life spoke in such a way that the priests listened to her. Once upon a time in childhood, Natalya Malysheva was told that God spoke through her lips. It was in the temple next door to the house where her mother once took her. She did not remember her words, but she remembered the attention that the nuns then surrounded her with.

Only later, having already become Mother Adriana, did she understand that this was the first sign from above. And for this fate she was saved from death more than once.

Aircraft designers S.P. Korolev and A.M. Isaev. The difficult fate, courage and fortitude of nun Adriana (Natalia Vladimirovna Malysheva) amaze everyone who saw her, communicated with her, or simply read literature dedicated to this great Russian woman, a righteous woman and the kindest soul of a person.

Natalya Malysheva was born on December 12, 1921. It so happened that as a young, fragile girl, she ended up at the front at Rokossovsky’s headquarters and served there as a scout. She went through the entire war unharmed, participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of Moscow, and worked as a translator in Germany and Poland for 4 years.

In Natasha’s life, the only front-line love was Mikhail Babushkin, a pilot who died at the very beginning of the war; she could not love anyone else.

After the war, the future nun returned to her beloved Moscow Aviation Institute, completed her studies and devoted her entire life to the design of rocket engines under the leadership of Korolev and Isaev. Malysheva worked in a far from feminine position as a design engineer for more than 30 years, creating “jewelry” engines for maneuvering and braking in orbit, and took part in the development of the engine for Gagarin’s Vostok.

“A modern nun who has her own opinion on many things,” that’s how Mother Adriana herself liked to say about herself. In her life, every step, every detail is amazing - a persistent girl at the front, who during the entire war did not kill a single person, a major, a famous engineer and her best friend and adviser in any everyday affairs - she helped everyone, including with money, she worried for people strangers to her, gave wise advice.

Speaking about Mother Adrian, many remember Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who also went to the front at a very young age; she, like Mother, was infinitely devoted to the Motherland and sincerely loved the entire Russian people. A pure heart, dedication and faith in victory - that’s what these two strong-willed girls were similar in. Having survived bloody battles near Moscow and Stalingrad, having managed to cross the front line 18 times and stay alive, rescuing the wounded from shelling, Natalya increasingly understood that some unknown force was protecting her.

A stunning meeting with the son of Natalya’s fellow soldier left an indelible impression on her - the young man left social life and went to the outback, becoming a monk. From that moment on, something changed inside, and the future nun Adriana delved into reading church literature and the Gospel, began traveling to sacred places and gradually prepared herself for spiritual life. She also spoke of childhood memories of the Passionate Nunnery Convent, where she and her mother came to receive Holy Communion and where she froze at the feet of the Savior.

On her father's side, Natasha also had priests. And at a certain point in time, torn between social activities and spiritual life, she chose the last right path, deciding to leave worldly life. At first she helped restore the Holy Dormition Pyukhtitsa Convent in Moscow, and then she herself remained here, taking monastic vows with the name Adrian. At that time, mother was already 80 years old.

A man of great fortitude, ready to help everyone in difficult times of life, an example of sincere love for the entire world around him, a man who in life achieved the high rank of major and the high position of aircraft designer and managed to leave all this in exchange for eternal values. How faithfully she fought for her homeland, she was also devoted to her favorite work - work in a design bureau, and just as faithfully she dedicated the rest of her life to God.

In memory of Mother, more than 4 hours of video were shot with her participation, a book was written about her difficult fate “Nun from Intelligence”, and her portrait was painted by the artist Shilov. In her life there were the best teachers - Marshal Rokossovsky, the creator of engines for spaceships A.M. Isaev, the stern but caring leader S.S. Korolev.

Nun Adriana (Malysheva), in the world Natalya Vladimirovna Malysheva. Retired major.She went through the entire Great Patriotic War, was in intelligence, after the war she served in Germany, then worked as an engine designer for S.P. Korolev. She left the world on the night of February 4, at the age of 91. The funeral service will be held at the courtyard of the Pyukhtitsa Monastery in the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary on February 6 at 11.00.

- Adrian's mother? — I asked very loudly, dialing the cell phone number of nun Adriana (Malysheva).

Yes, yes!,” answered a cheerful and cheerful voice on the phone.

It’s good that you come for an interview after May 9, such texts always turn out better than those prepared in a hurry the day before.

Today she is 90.

In a nutshell, she served as a scout throughout the war, after the war she graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute and worked as a design engineer for S.P. Korolev. She retired only so that work would not prevent her from devoting all her strength to the revived Pyukhtitsa courtyard. If, again, in a nutshell, then her whole life was spent in the epicenter of the most active activity.

More than a year ago, having suffered a severe leg fracture, she was practically locked in her cell and completely dependent on others - not always attentive, caring and punctual. That doesn’t stop her from telling jokes, humming songs and making her remember the names from “A Hero of Our Time” by her beloved M. Lermontov.

“Every word of his goes straight to my heart. I can’t find anything from him that would somehow dissatisfy me or offend me...”

Unwanted Daughter

Natasha Malysheva was an unwanted child in the family - her mother only wanted a son.

“She didn’t even think that it could happen differently. And she was already talking with her future son, saying “he” when someone asked her about her well-being before giving birth. The disappointment was unbearable for her and complicated the life of an innocent child from the first days.”

Love and attention had to be won from early childhood, intuitively: Natasha learned to read at the age of 5, and she repeated all her school lessons after her sister, so that later at school the teachers did not know what to do with her. She also entertained herself a lot - for example, she ran to catch the sun over the horizon, confident that she would certainly catch up. One day, after reading about the cavalry maiden Durova, I realized that this was fate!

Crucifixion

One day Natasha met Christ.

In the not yet destroyed Passionate Monastery, the girl was led to the Cross on which there was a Man. On which God was. And there are nails at His feet! How five-year-old Natasha tried to tear off the nails from the Savior’s pure feet with her teeth - the carved nails did not give in, and she could not get away from the Crucifixion...

Misha Babushkin

Since childhood, my mother reminded Natasha that she was ugly, but her sister Olya - yes, but she was standing in front of the mirror! Therefore, when a fellow student at the Moscow Aviation Institute, the snub-nosed and tall Misha Babushkin (the son of a hero of the Soviet Union), began talking to her more often than others, she suspected a trick and decisively ended the acquaintance. But he continued to accompany her and invited her home to meet her parents. Suddenly he returned to the conversation from a week ago: “Why don’t you believe that I like you?”

Hanging my head, I talked about the sadness with which I had lived since childhood: “After all, I’m ugly!” Then he led me to the wardrobe, grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me towards the huge mirror:

“Look at you! Look! What eyes do you have! Smile! And don’t you dare ever say that again!”

I burst into tears. I buried myself in his shoulder, crying, and I felt as if the skin of a vile frog, which I had dressed myself in, was slipping off me. A miracle happened - Natasha began to look prettier before our eyes - from happiness.

War

1941 War. At first it seemed that it would take a few days to defeat the enemy and you wouldn’t have time to stand up for your Motherland. But months passed... “Bombs fell on Arbat, fell in front of the Bolshoi Theater. I understood that everything turned out completely differently than I thought. We were going to go and win. And then suddenly they talk about prisoners, about a large number of wounded”...

Misha went to the front immediately - he studied to be a military pilot. Natasha went to the front in October, Misha tried to dissuade her - already over the phone as best he could.

“I clearly understood what I was doing, but there was no hesitation. It was as if some force was guiding me: I knew that I had to do just that. I went home to pick up the necessary things. I’ve sometimes gone on night shifts at the hospital before, so my mother didn’t know anything.”

I have never met more love than I had for Misha in my life; his photograph is still in a prominent place. Until now, mother is friends with Misha’s sister...

She ended up in intelligence. She speaks good German, is very young - she looks like a teenager - she quickly learned to crawl on her bellies, observe landmarks and, most importantly, not leave a friend in trouble.

Saved

This is how she saved a wounded fellow soldier in the winter of 1941 - he was abandoned because it was impossible to pull the wounded man out through an open place that was being shot at by the Germans. Natasha did not obey the order and rushed after the wounded man.

“When I found Yura, he opened his eyes and whispered: “Oh, she’s come!” And I thought you abandoned me.”

And so he looked at me, he had such eyes that I realized that if this happens again, I will go again and again, just to see such gratitude and happiness in his eyes again.

We had to crawl through a place that was being shot at by the Germans. I crawled through it quickly alone, but what about the two of us? The wounded man had one leg broken, the other leg and arms were intact. I tied his leg with a tourniquet, connected our belts, and asked him to help me with his hands. We started crawling back.

And suddenly, thick snow began to fall, as if ordered, as if in a theater! The snowflakes stuck together, fell on their paws, and under this snow cover we crawled through the most dangerous place.

Natalia Malysheva. In 1941

Halfway there, our guys rushed towards us, took Yura in their arms, and they had to drag me too - my strength left me.”

Life

The hardest thing at the front is everyday life. Life of a woman among men.

“It was very difficult for our men to even go under a bush! You’re walking with a squad on skis, you start to fall behind a little, and you think - now I’ll quickly catch up! But as soon as I start to fall behind, all the men immediately become caring, as if on purpose: “Guys, take a smaller step, Natasha is tired!” I think: “Well, let you all die!” One day I finally chose one older one and said: “Well, why are you all so stupid?” And he replies in bewilderment: “It never occurred to us that you would be so afraid to say it.”

Stalingrad, Kursk Bulge. She went around calling on the Germans to surrender, once a German caught her during a wiretap and... let her go with the words: “I don’t fight with girls!”

The feeling of Victory came unexpectedly, and then the victory was ordered to be practically forgotten - only in 1965 did celebrations and honors for veterans return again.

Rocket science

Natasha Malysheva, after working in Germany for several years, graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute and began working in rocket science.

For the graduation project

“The most difficult thing was to look for errors in the calculations. You calculate everything, carefully check and double-check it many times, each launch costs a lot of money, everyone is watching. And suddenly the rocket at the test site begins to act up! Somehow there was a hole in a pipe that caused a leak, and one of the components lacked resources. But until you establish the cause of the accident, how much time passes!

By a tragic accident, S.P.’s life was interrupted. Korolev and A.M. Isaev, and Malysheva begins a completely different life - in an ordinary Soviet institution, where people are not passionate about work, do not sit all night, work for a salary, and not for an idea. It was getting empty.

Seryozha - father Sylvester

At this time, a friend told me a secret: Seryozha’s son took monastic vows and became a priest... “Perhaps you’ll come with me to see how he’s doing?”

“Sergei, in response to my address “Seryozha!”, corrected strictly leisurely: “Father Sylvester.” We drove almost silently to the village. We stopped at a hut with a small front garden and a well. Two rooms. In one was Sylvester's father's cell, in the other there was a bed, a trestle bed, a table and two stools. Pieces of tow were sticking out of the ceiling through the cracks, there were no curtains on the windows, the “conveniences” were in the courtyard. I remembered the magnificent three-room apartment of Colonel Lukashenko, Seryozha’s father. And suddenly, instead of horror and protest, I felt such a surge of delight that I could not hide it. "God! — I thought, “what strong faith You sent to this young man, so that just like that, completely voluntarily, he could leave a comfortable life here, in this desolation, alone, and be so calm and peaceful!”

The change that happened to Seryozha - Father Sylvester struck Natalia Vladimirovna. She began to go to church, read the Gospel... “Everything that had hitherto been the meaning of my life: work, active social activities, the desire to be in the center of attention, all at once faded and lost its meaning.”

Soon she found a confessor, traveled to many monasteries, and began working on the restoration of the courtyard of the Pukhtitsa Monastery. There was not enough time, and she decided to retire. They let me go reluctantly, but Natalia Vladimirovna was adamant - once she decided, that was it.

Adriana's sister

Here in 2000 she took monastic vows. Favorite name Natalia - what name will be tonsured now?

“I will never forget the minutes of waiting for my new name, and when the bishop said: “Our sister Adriana,” it was difficult for me to contain my joy. Now I will forever remain with my holy martyr Natalia, since she and Adrian are one whole body and soul.”

Mother has not walked for more than a year - after a severe leg fracture. She is always active and the most active, a skier and ballerina - chained to her chair and completely dependent on others - not always attentive, obliging and efficient.

Adrian's mother greets everyone with a smile and warmth.

Rules of life

“I have developed two rules in my life:

“Never linger where you really want to stay.” This rule has been my lifesaver for the rest of my life. I was never annoying when visiting, I always left, although they asked me to stay.

With His Holiness Patriarch Alexy

My second rule came when I was already older. Watching people, I realized that in society you should never show in public that you are offended. Even if they told you something rude or treated you less politely. It’s much better to pull yourself together, make a completely incomprehensible face and ask him: “Something probably happened to you? Bad mood?". I assure you - this is an excellent medicine. Then, when I began to delve into Christian laws, I realized that although I had a little selfish humility, it was still humility. A person says rudeness to me, and I express sympathy, I do not allow any thought that this rudeness applies to me and our relationship. Works amazingly well."

The highest award is the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called

90

Today she is 90.

These are just a few short episodes from her life and we hope to soon publish a book of memories of Mother Adriana and will BE SURE to convey all our congratulations to her. Write. Not laconically and concisely, write - we will read every letter to mother - clearly, measuredly and leisurely - as she herself asks!

Anna Danilova

A nun and intelligence officer rolled into one - Natalya Malysheva, aka Mother Adriana. She became known throughout the country several years before her death. A book was published about her, the famous artist Shilov painted her portrait, and for her services to the Fatherland she received the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

She spent the entire Great Patriotic War as a scout. She was personally entrusted with secret missions by Marshal Rokossovsky. After the war, Natalya Malysheva led the development of surface-to-air combat missiles. At the peak of her career, she entered a monastery.

Soviet schoolgirl Natasha Malysheva

Germany had not yet thought of attacking the USSR, but Soviet schoolgirl Natasha Malysheva, humming to herself “If tomorrow is war, if tomorrow is a hike,” swam in the pool, skied, rode a horse and learned to shoot.

We had such a generation: patriotic,” says nun Adriana today, “they were almost ready to defend their Motherland. I didn’t know how to ski, but one of my friends said: “What are you talking about! Do you know how important this is if military operations are in winter!” And I started skiing.

Hooray! War!

The radio announced: war. Everyone froze. And 19-year-old Natasha almost shouted “hurray” - fate had finally given her a chance to become a hero.
“We were romantics, but we didn’t understand,” she says now.

And then the MAI student immediately ran to the military registration and enlistment office. Nowhere did they say: “Go study, we’ll fight without you for now.” And only when the Germans were near Moscow did they raise all their statements. None of the volunteers changed their minds - 11 thousand people gathered in a week. Three divisions. Families came to sign up.

As a uniform, the recruits were given military suits from Mosfilm, a sample from the Civil War.

The breeches were huge, they reached my armpits,” recalls Malysheva. - So I came in uniform: to tell my mother that I was going to the front.

Mom started crying. And the future intelligence officer, in order not to cry herself, said deliberately rudely: “Why are you crying? Do you see what times? You don’t even have enough food for me.”

The barracks - as tiny as the current cell of the nun Adriana - could accommodate seven people. We slept on the floor without undressing.

In November, Natalya took the oath. And after two months I went on reconnaissance. They hired me right away - my excellent knowledge of German helped. During the four years of the war, she was behind enemy lines 18 times.

What is the front line? Is it possible to explain? You are walking on the same ground. But the further you go, the faster you turn into an object... At first the Germans were not very vigilant. But then everything changed:

When the Germans became more vigilant, and the war unfolded in full force, Natalya was sent to finish her studies at intelligence school. “I’m returning home,” she told her comrades, acting according to instructions. Fellow soldiers looked in disbelief. “Are you going to the rear?!” When is the war at its height? The reproaches were terribly offensive. But the intelligence officer had no right to explain herself.
At intelligence school she was taught secrecy, observation, and composure. They taught us how to survive in the forest. Think and listen to intuition.

After studying, Natasha ended up in Rokossovsky's 16th Army. And she no longer went on missions as a warrior - in a camouflage suit, but in the guise of a village girl with a knapsack. Deep behind enemy lines, she was supposed to listen to enemy communications and report on his plans. Rokossovsky himself accompanied her on missions. And he admonished: “Please, don’t take unnecessary risks.”

Strange German

Natasha was always strangely confident that they would not kill her. And in a strange way she remained alive even when there was no chance. One day she was caught listening to a German soldier:

An escort took me behind the front line. He also had a wiring diagram. Having connected, I listened and remembered everything important that the German command conveyed to its troops. Then she returned to her people and reported what she had heard to headquarters.

Twice such operations were successful. But for the rest of my life I will not forget what happened on my third raid. When I had already passed out and got out of the shelter to wait for darkness to return to my people, I felt with my back that I was not alone. She quickly turned around, snatching a pistol - according to the instructions, she had to commit suicide so as not to be captured - but immediately received a blow to her arm. The German standing in front of me instantly had my pistol. I was petrified with horror: now they will take me to the German headquarters. Lord, not this!

I didn’t even see what kind of German he was - I couldn’t see his rank or age out of fear. My heart was jumping out of my chest, I almost couldn’t breathe. And suddenly, grabbing me by the shoulders, the German jerked me back to him. “Well, now he’ll shoot,” I thought even with relief. And then she received a strong push in the back. The pistol fell far ahead of me.

I don't fight with girls! Take a pistol, otherwise your own people will shoot you...

I was stunned, turned around and saw a long figure walking into the depths of the forest.

My legs did not obey me, and I, stumbling, wandered to the place where, in the darkness, I could go out to my people. On the way, I restored myself to a more or less normal state and returned as usual.

Her mother was a believer, and in Natalya’s soul, Soviet ideology and faith in God strangely coexisted. Her front-line prayer consisted of two words: “Lord, help!” - with the explanation: “But not captivity!”

He made me beautiful

But Natalya’s loss alone turned out to be irreparable: her first love, the son of the pilot Babushkin Misha, died at the very beginning of the war.

We had so little time,” Mother Adriana looks thoughtfully at the ceiling of her narrow cell. - I was rude to him at first. She said: “Find yourself someone dumber.” And Misha answered me: “But why?” And then it burst through me: “Because I’m ugly.” My mother always told me this: “Your sister is beautiful, and you are smart.” He took me to the mirror and said: “Don’t you have eyes? Can’t you see your beauty?” I burst into tears. He was the first to give me the opportunity to feel attractive. And for the first time I believed. And the next day my acquaintances began to say to me: “You, Natasha, have somehow changed, you have become so pretty.” It was as if the skin of a frog fell off of me in an instant after his words.

When the war began, Misha went to pilot courses - an elite regiment was being formed in Lyubertsy. He said to Natasha: “You have nothing to do in the war, I will fight for two.”
He died on October 25, 1941. Natasha found out about his death only a year later. “Misha is no more...” - that’s all his parents told her on the phone...

Everyday life at the front of Natasha Malysheva

One day she decided to talk about something that is usually not talked about. About the life of a young girl at the front. Mother Adriana believed that knowing about this is no less important than about the front line, firefights and how they go on reconnaissance...

The most difficult thing at the front is everyday life, especially the life of a girl. Even going under a bush with our men was a problem! You go skiing with your squad, you start to fall behind a little, you think, now I’ll quickly catch up! But only here all the men, as if on purpose, become caring:

- Guys, take a smaller step, Natasha is tired!

I involuntarily think: “May you all die!” One day I couldn’t stand it, I chose an older one and said:

- Well, why are you all so stupid!

And he answers in bewilderment:

- Yes, it never occurred to us that you would be afraid to say about it.

- They would have realized! Now go last and don’t look back. And don’t let anyone stop or go back. I'll catch up with you.

How else can you say this? “You go, but do I need to go to the toilet?”

I love Tsiolkovsky

After the war, Natasha returned to MAI. When the distribution was made, I wrote an application for a new direction - rocket engines. She was, of course, refused: only men were accepted into the group.

Sometimes I’ll do something stupid, but it turns out well,” says Natalya Vladimirovna. - Out of naivety, I added two lines to the statement: that I love Tsiolkovsky very much and that during the war I successfully coped with all male responsibilities.

The commission laughed for a long time, but accepted it.

After graduation, Malysheva was assigned to Research Institute-88 in Podlipki.
Natalya Vladimirovna has worked in this field for 35 years. Design engineer Malysheva participated in the creation of engines for maneuvering and braking in orbit of the first ballistic missiles and spacecraft, including for Gagarin’s Vostok. She was the only woman on the state commission for testing missile systems. N.V. Malysheva participated in the creation of engines for the S-75 anti-aircraft missile system of Peter Grushin.

Another life

It was then that she began to visit the temple.

I really liked one priest - from the back. And he turns around - without a beard. What kind of beardless priest is this? I wanted to leave, and he said to me: “Are you coming to me?” I had to say: “To you, father.” Then we sat in the church courtyard. He didn’t ask anything, but I kept talking and talking - telling my life in the smallest detail. It was as if she was freeing herself.

In the early 90s, Malysheva was offered to run for the Supreme Council. At the same time, her help was needed at the courtyard of the Pyukhtitsa Monastery. It was necessary to choose something. And Natalya Vladimirovna chose a cell overlooking the church.

Sometimes people ask me if I feel sad because I succeeded in everything, but as a woman I don’t. They mean that there is no family, no children,” says Mother Adriana.

You know, I don’t understand this female melancholy. What is there to be sad about? About a huge belly and the need to subordinate your life to a screaming baby? Don't think: I love children. And they are drawn to me. But there are none of our own, and I don’t consider it a tragedy.

Nun Adriana spoke especially a lot with children on the eve of May 9 - they called them to school.
“Apparently, this is my cross - to bear witness to the war,” the nun sighs and falls silent for a long time.

Looking somewhere far away...