Medical resident Ammar Hussein receives Presidential Appreciation Letter

Ammar works at a local ambulance station while still continuing his studies of ophthalmology at the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology.

He has been volunteering since 2018 because he thinks it’s his moral obligation, “My childhood in Iraq was tremendously hard. I saw the horrors of war and really wanted to help the victims, but I wasn’t yet able to do that because of age. That’s when I decided to be a doctor.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ammar Hussein worked 3,000 hours in the ‘red zone’ with patients, which is the biggest such number in Russia. He has also partaken in many other humanitarian efforts in our country and in Syria.

“I recently heard that I an appreciation letter was bestowed upon me by President Vladimir Putin. This is a very joyous occasion. But I also understand that it’s a great responsibility,” says the interviewee, who in 2023 became a Russian citizen.

Among Ammar’s other awards are Student of the Year at KFU Grand Prix in 2022 and Kind Tatarstan Grand Prix in 2022. He was also given the Medal for Selfless Contribution to the Organization of the All-Russian Mutual Help Initiative #MyVmeste (a volunteering effort started during the COVID pandemic and aimed at helping disadvantaged individuals during lockdowns).