As the Russian invasion entered its 11th day, Lesya Filimonova and Valeriy Filimonov, two members of the Ukrainian armed forces tied the knot at one of Kyiv’s checkpoints.
Vitaliy Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, who attended the wedding that took place on the 6th of March wrote on social media; “They’ve been living in a civil marriage for a long time and have finally decided to marry.”
Both the bride and the groom wore their military fatigues for the wedding procession.
The priest and the wedding guests – most of whom are members of the Ukrainian defense forces lined up for the marital procession with shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenades and antitank missiles.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, wore a protective vest and took a selfie with the bride, as well as a crowd of journalists who had been invited to see the spectacle: a wedding next to a checkpoint in the middle of Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
Despite the bizarre nature of Lesya Filimonova and Valeriy Filimonov’s wedding in Kiev on Sunday, the event provided a glimmer of normalcy in the midst of the crisis. It demonstrated, according to the mayor, that “life goes on and people live, and their love aids the struggle.”
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He added that the couple was “regular individuals” just over a week ago, with no plans to carry weapons. “They want to protect our city collectively now,” says Klitschko.
The wedding took place as Russian armies advance on the capital. Several individuals were murdered in a mortar attack on Sunday while attempting to evacuate the nearby suburb of Irpin.
Civilians have joined the struggle en force, with stores and businesses shuttered around the capital. Many of them, including Filimonova and Filimonov, have enlisted in the Ukrainian military’s Territorial Defense Forces.
Filimonova was the head of a scout organization before the war, while Filimonov led an IT company. “We joined the force because we have everything we love here, and we have to safeguard it,” Filimonova explained. We’re not going to hand it up to the enemy.”
The bride walked down the aisle first, as is customary at weddings. The aisle in this case was a little plot of grass off a busy road in Kyiv, near to a checkpoint and a parking garage, where uniformed men and women scurried to set up caviar and salmon hors d’oeuvres.
Filimonova looked radiant with a modest veil pinned to her short, curly hair for the occasion.
Live music was presented by Taras Kompanichenko, a Ukrainian musician who plays the lira, a traditional folk instrument. He, too, was dressed in fatigues.
Source: The Washington Post.
