Lesia Ivashchenko left her job in Ukraine when the war with Russia started.
She decided to work with the territorial defense forces to defend her region outside of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. Kyiv has been the clear target of Russia, which has moved to occupy the country.
She hadn’t seen her partner, Valerii Fylymonov, since the war began.
The two were both fighting in the war against Russia.
Fighting for their land.
Fighting for their freedom.
But they were reunited only days ago.
On Sunday, the couple was married on the front lines of war, ABC Australia reported.
“I’m happy that we are alive, that this day started, that my husband is alive, and he is with me,” Ivashchenko said.
“We decided who knows what will happen tomorrow. We should get married in front of the state, in front of God.
“And we have an adult daughter, and I think she’s happy that we finally did it.”
The uplifting news of the couple’s marriage comes as Russia continues its attack on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Sunday that Russia is preparing an aerial assault across the country and that the fight is far from over, according to The Washington Post.
In a slight ray of hope, Ukraine and Russia have tried to negotiate on civilian escape routes for Ukrainians. Russia halted the escapes over the weekend before proposing new routes into Belarus, a Russian allied country, per BBC News. Ukraine later called these escape routes immoral, according to Reuters. The future of what citizens can do is still uncertain.
For the newlywed couple of Ivashchenko and Fylymonov, the war hasn’t ended.
And it won’t until the enemy is defeated.
“We are determined to push back the enemy,” Ivashchenko said, “and take back our lands and win.”