The museum displays a photograph of a Russian officer Vasily Nikolaevich Lavrov. He was born on April 27 (May 9), 1838 in the Yepifansky Uyezd of Tula Governorate. In 1855, Lavrov graduated with honors from the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers and was promoted to ensign. As Lavrov was the best student, his name was engraved on a marble plaque.

At the age of 17, Vasily Lavrov joined the Life Guards Cavalry Grenadier Regiment. That same year Prince Alexander Fyodorovich Golitsyn-Prozorovsky was appointed its commander. In 1857, Vasily Lavrov enrolled at the Nicholas General Staff Academy. He was a brilliant student and received the rank of lieutenant. After graduation from the academy, the officer was transferred to the staff of the Guards Corps.

In 1863, Vasily Nikolaevich Lavrov joined the Finnish Life Guards Regiment, which was sent to suppress the Polish uprising. In one of the battles, Staff Captain Lavrov was wounded. For distinction in military service, he was awarded a golden dragoon saber with the inscription “For Bravery” and the Order of St. Vladimir 4th Class with swords and a bow.

Vasily Lavrov had not yet reached the age of thirty, when, in 1866, he was promoted to colonel and appointed to the post of Chief of Staff of the 2nd Guards Infantry Division. In 1873, the officer was elected councilor, that is, a member of the assembly with a deciding vote, of the St. Petersburg City Duma. He supervised the preparation of a report on the construction of horse-drawn railways in the capital of the Russian Empire, dealt with the introduction of conscription, and served as a member of the commission for the construction of the Liteyny Bridge in St. Petersburg.

In August 1877, Vasily Lavrov arrived in the city of Jassy in the rank of major general as commander of the Finnish Life Guards Regiment. He received an order to march towards Gorni Dubnik on foot: the railroad was overloaded. It took his regiment 42 days to travel 600 versts — about 640 kilometers. Vasily Lavrov led his regiment on foot.

On October 12 (24), 1877, the storming of the Turkish fortification began. The enemy’s position was most advantageous. The Finnish regiment was tasked with crossing an open field under a barrage of bullets fired by the Turks. Lavrov himself led the assault, but was mortally wounded. The Russian troops managed to take the redoubt only by nightfall.