St. Petersburg, Kazan Cathedral.
An Eastern Orthodox priest was praying to the Statue of Our Lady enshrined within the cathedral.
As a devout believer, Viktor Letov had always made a daily practice of praying before the Statue of Our Lady. The contents of his prayers never differed much, always asking for salvation and forgiveness. This time, as usual, he murmured the prayer silently, then made the sign of the cross over his chest.
But at that moment, he heard a voice. "Viktor..."
He opened his eyes, only to discover in shock that the Holy Mother in the painting was looking at him.
A hazy radiance descended from behind the Holy Mother. Its boundless holiness made tears stream down his face.
With a thud, he dropped to his knees. The immense glory he had never dared hope for nearly made him faint with happiness.
Yet he still heard the Holy Mother's gentle, loving, resolute, unquestionable voice. "Viktor, disaster. Disaster is about to come..."
"D-disaster?!" Viktor finally recovered from the tremendous shock of the Holy Mother's manifestation, only to break out in a cold sweat at her words.
As an Eastern Orthodox believer, he naturally knew well about the Holy Mother's apparitions.
The Holy Mother had saved the Soviet Union three times, sparing it from the Mongols, Napoleon, and the Nazis.
Without question, she would only appear when the Soviet Union faced a colossal crisis that threatened its very survival.
And the disaster she spoke of had to be an event just as terrifying.
Could the Soviet Union be facing another immense crisis of national destruction and extinction?
"Where is the disaster? Maria, Mother of God, please guide me..."
The Holy Mother's gaze turned southeast, and she repeated that dreadful prophecy once more. "Disaster is about to come..."
Suddenly, the radiance vanished.