Love and war. ATO militaries about happiness which they found. Part 2

The UkrainianPravda. Life presents love stories of Ukrainian servicemen.

Love and war. ATO militaries about happiness which they found. Part 1

Illya Serbin and Yuliya Mykytenko

He is a battalion scout (first, the 54th battalion, then the 131st separate reconnaissance battalion). He fought in Chermalyk, Pavlopil, Hranitne. For her – he is just “a bearded man in a uniform” or “a handsome military guy”

She is a student, NGO “Vidsich” volunteer, daughter of a National Guard serviceman.
They met accidentally, but when they started speaking, they understood that they were born for each other.



Illya Serbin and Yuliya Mykytenko

At Easter, 2015, Yuliya went to Illya who was in Mariupol at that time. She came home as his fiancée. They got married a bit later, in the Carpathian Mountains. They do not remember now who was the first to propose, but they remember very well how he came back home from the front: chamomiles and nectarines in his hands instead of an automatic machine gun, and rainy, but peaceful sky above the heard.

They are only 20, but they know what love is and what war is. They have managed to do a lot though it is just the beginning of their life!

Andriy Drozdov and Olena Pnyovska

He is a military pilot who has been serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 1998. He has been a technician on Mi-24 since 2003. He was a member of UN missions in Liberia, Cote-d’Ivoire and Congo.
She has worked in international business. She jokes that Andriy chose an unusual way to meet her – he literally fell down from the sky.

His helicopter was coming back from a frontline zone, but there happened an accident just near Kyiv. He was wounded and taken to hospital where she had been working as a volunteer.

Andriy Drozdov and Olena Pnyovska

They liked each other from the very beginning, but started seeing each other every day when Andriy was transferred to another hospital. She stayed in the hospital till late in the evening, they laughed a lot.

They have been together for a year. Though now they are separated by several hundred kilometers because of their work, they know that they will be together all the time very soon.

They are sure that their meeting was a symbolic one.

Yuliana and Oleksandr “Chekhi”

He is from “Aidar” battalion and fought in different parts of the Luhansk region.
She is a volunteer of Irpin military hospital.

His war started from Maidan: after Maidan he joined a volunteer battalion. On September 5, 2014, his company of the 24th separate assault battalion was ambushed on Shastya-Metallist highway.Only three militaries survived; Oleksandr was one of them. Then he was burnt and had a contusion. However, he went back to the front. In February 2015 he got contusion again.

Yuliana and Oleksandr “Chekhi”

Just after that they met in Irpin hospital. Yulia brought food and clothes for “newcomers”. They talked a little, and Yulia hugged Sashko, he hugged her too and held her for a very-very long time.

He proposed after the second meeting. She came to his ward and did not see him there. Then she left him a message, and signed it, “Yuliya, your future wife”.

A month later Oleksandr came to hospital again for rehabilitation. On the day when he was released from hospital, he came to Yulia’s work and in a decisive way, as a military, took her to the marriage registration office to submit the application to register their marriage. They got married the next day.

The Pryimaks: Serhiy and Iryna

 In He is a military from the 90th battalion, cyborg from Donetsk airport. He was mobilized in the summer of 2014.

She is a businesswoman, his wife and his support.

They met and fell in love before the war. Serhiy started working for Iryna’s firm.

Once he said, “I love you, Iryno Andriyivno”. When the war began, they got married.

The Pryimaks: Serhiy and Iryna

The husband went to the war. Iryna did her best to help him and his comrades-in-arms. She collected and sent to the front a lot of useful things, spending her own money and asking friends and acquaintances to join her.

When Serhiy was wounded and got a contusion, he almost lost his eyesight and could not move, she rushed to the front.

The most horrible thing was waiting for them in the future.  Serhiy got cancer. Now this incredible couple is fighting one more war – combatting the disease. They are fighting for their life, their love, their family, and their sonny – little angel Myrioslavchyk.

Roksana Kasumova, for UP. Life

Photo: Ihor Palamarchuk

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