As the war continues to rip Ukraine apart, one Ukrainian couple took the step to become one.
The pair tied the knot on the front line just outside of Kyiv in a moving ceremony on Sunday.
Territorial defence fighters Lesia Filimonova and Valeriy Filimonov’s, who have been together for 22 years, held the impromptu wedding on the 11th day of fighting.
The couple, who have an 18-year-old daughter, had not seen each other since the beginning of the war - and both joined the military reserve in a bid to protect their country.
Lesia told the Washington Post: "Here we have everything we love, and we have to defend it. We have no intention of giving it away to the enemy.”
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In as traditional a ceremony as was possible in the circumstances, the marriage was performed by a military chaplain and incense was lit.
Fellow soldiers lined up carrying shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenades and antitank missiles as their country faces continued bombardment by Russia.
The couple married in their fatigues, with the bride swapping her helmet for a veil, while their fellow reservists served caviar and salmon hors d’oeuvres.
Lesia and Valeriy, who serve in the 112th brigade of the Ukrainian territorial defences forces, were flanked by their comrades, while flower petals wafted down.
Taras Kompanichenko, a popular Ukrainian musician, played the bandura while pictures showed other volunteer soldiers holding flowers along with their weapons.
“It is hard to call it unconditional happiness in this situation, but we surely feel uplifted,” the bride told the Washington Post.
Former heavyweight boxing world champions Wladimir and mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko, who visited the pair to congratulate them.
Sharing a video of the moving ceremony on Twitter Klitschko tweeted: "Today I greeted the soldiers of one of the battalions of the capital's defense of the capital Lesya and Valeri.
"They have been living in a civil marriage for a long time, and now they have decided to get married. The ceremony took place next to one of the checkpoints. Life goes on!
"And we will protect the life of Kyiv, Kyivites, our state!"
The mayor told the Post: “Life continues and the people live and their love helps the war.”
