- Two Ukrainian couples serving in the military got married just 25 miles from the eastern front.
- The newlyweds might never have met their spouses if they hadn't served in the war, AFP reported.
- The couples were to return to the fighting the next day, though they wouldn't be on the front lines.
Two young Ukrainian couples who met their partners while serving in the war against Russia were married on Sunday in a town just 25 miles from the eastern front line in Donetsk.
According to Agence France-Presse, the newlyweds from the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade were set to return to the fighting the next day.
They tied the knot just outside a registry office, which was closed, the outlet reported.
Vitaliy Orlich, a 23-year-old sniper, wore camouflage trousers and military-issue boots as he wed Kristina, a 23-year-old who works in the signal corps. The bride chose a traditional Ukrainian dress with red embroidery for the occasion.
"I believe that this is about creating a new family — it doesn't matter where it happens or how," Kristina, who was only identified by her first name, told AFP.
Meanwhile, Khrystyna Lyuta, a 23-year-old contract soldier ranked private first class, and Volodymyr Mykhalchuk, a 28-year-old soldier, met two months ago when Mykhalchuk was mobilized, the outlet reported.
Both were clad in army trousers for the ceremony, though Lyuta chose a red traditional blouse while Mykhalchuk was dressed in a camouflage t-shirt. Although their homes were less than three miles away from one another, the pair had never met before the war.
"War is war, but life goes on," Lyuta told AFP.
"The main thing is that we love each other, and we want to be together," Mykhalchuk said, per the outlet.
AFP reported that the brigade's chaplain gave the two couples an Eastern Orthodox blessing and wed them. While air raid sirens went off three times during the wedding, none of the guests reacted, per AFP.
With their country at war, there will be no honeymoon or off-days for the four newlyweds, their brigade commander Oleksandr Okhrimenko told AFP. Russia has slowly been gaining ground in the Donbas, where the Kremlin's forces have been joined by Moscow-backed separatists in a push to seize the entirety of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
However, Okhrimenko said the couples would be stationed toward the rear of the fighting, though he didn't specify for how long, per AFP. Under martial law, he had the authority to certify the marriage, the outlet reported.