Love can overcome almost anything.
Like war – and almost two years in Russian captivity.
The Ukrainian soldiers Galena and Mykola are proof of that, when they chose to get engaged after Wednesday’s big prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
– Their hearts never stopped beating in unison, says the couple’s former commander Kyiv Post.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The town of Mariupol in the Donetsk region quickly became an outpost of the Ukrainian resistance, and where intense fighting around the Azovstal steelworks continued for weeks.
After an intense bombardment from Russia, the city was finally taken over by Putin’s forces in the spring of 2022.
Some who fought together were military doctor Galena Fedychyn and soldier Mykola Gritsenyak. They were both part of the Ukrainian army’s 36th Marine Brigade, which was entrenched in the steel plant and who for their efforts have come to be regarded as national heroes in their homeland.
In the midst of all the horrors of war, they found each other and became a couple. But after the capitulation, Galena was captured by Russian forces in the spring of 2022.
There she sat – as the only remaining woman from the brigade – a prisoner until yesterday. In the largest prisoner exchange of the war so far, 248 Russian citizens were exchanged for 230 Ukrainian ones, including Galena.
– In captivity, she continued to speak Ukrainian, as a matter of principle, greets the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Survived challenges that break the strongest”
Once out in freedom, it didn’t take long before the couple were reunited – and Mykola took the chance to propose.
In videos on social media, the newly engaged couple are seen kissing with rings on each finger and surrounded by large bouquets of roses.
– This love has survived challenges that can break the strongest, but their hearts never stopped standing in unison, says “Volyna”, the couple’s former commander in Mariupol.