“THERE’S NO TIME”
The couples went through traditional rituals such as stepping together onto an embroidered towel, symbolising togetherness.
The brigade’s chaplain gave them an Orthodox Christian blessing, flicking holy water and placing crowns on their heads, on the day of a major Church holiday, the Festival of the Holy Trinity.
The priest in a khaki cassock, Yuriy Zdebskiy, told AFP that “it’s the first marriage in the brigade in wartime”, since Russia launched its invasion on Feb 24.
“Now it’s wartime and there’s no time for big celebrations,” he said.
The infantry brigade’s commander, Okhrimenko, has the right to certify marriages under martial law.
He said that the location for the weddings “was chosen primarily for security reasons”.
Druzhkivka is about 40km as the crow flies from three fronts, as Russian troops threaten the towns of Sloviansk to the north-east, Bakhmut to the east and Gorlivka to the south-east.
Hours later, AFP reporters heard shelling and saw smoke rising as the two sides exchanged fire close to Bakhmut.
Even in relatively untouched Druzhkivka, shelling earlier this month tore apart private houses and crashed through the roof of a Baptist church in one street.
During the wedding, air raid sirens went off three times, an AFP reporter heard.
None of those attending reacted. Many war-hardened locals now ignore warnings to go to shelters unless there is an obvious threat.
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