The Museum of the History of the Resort City of Sochi presents a ring. It was made from a fragment extracted from the chest of the soldier Dmitry Fyodorovich Bodnya and presented by him to the doctor Nikolay Vasilyevich Romensky.

Nikolay Vasilyevich Romensky (1897–1987) was a cardiologist, medical lieutenant colonel, honored doctor of the RSFSR, and organizer of the Sochi hospital base from 1941 to 1946. He graduated from the Military Medical Academy and the Institute of History and Archeology in Petrograd. Romensky participated in the First World War and the Russian Civil War. In August 1941, he headed a number of hospitals in Khosta (a district of Sochi). After the war, he was appointed chief therapist of the Sochi City Health Department, in 1954, he became chief therapist of the Sochi resort. In addition to his medical practice, Nikolay Romensky was also involved in medical theory, writing over 20 scientific papers and articles throughout his career.

The displayed steel ring was given to Nikolay Romensky by a seriously wounded soldier named Dmitry Bodnya as a token of gratitude for his treatment. The ring was made from a fragment of an artillery shell casing that had wounded Bodnya in the chest. It has two small fragments and a recess for a third one, which was lost while the ring was still in Romensky’s possession. Dmitry Bodnya was admitted to Hospital No. 2123, which Nikolay Romensky headed at the time. Romensky was present during the admission of another group of wounded soldiers when the exhausted young man caught his compassionate attention. The doctor immediately sent the patient for emergency surgery. The complicated and risky operation, which Romensky oversaw as a cardiologist consultant, lasted several hours as the fragment was lodged right under Bodnya’s heart. The soldier was saved, and during his recovery period, he requested the extracted fragment. According to tradition, such fragments were only given to the wounded upon discharge, but Romensky made an exception. On the day of his discharge, Bodnya presented Romensky with the ring he had made himself. It is known that the soldier returned to the front and sent the doctor a letter from there. However, from that point forward, nothing is known about Dmitry Bodnya’s life.

After the war, Nikolay Romensky worked in Sochi for many years and managed health resorts. Later, he would personally donate the ring to the museum.