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Ukrainian army commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny was the official registrant for the wedding of one of his officers, Eugene Vorotila, to Maria Guresh. They are pictured with Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klichko, right.The Globe and Mail

Ukrainian army commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny has rarely appeared on social media since February, his attention focused instead on defending his country against Russian enemies.

But in September, he made an exception to allow for a wedding photo, albeit not his own. The general was the official registrant for the wedding of one of his officers, Eugene Vorotila, 24, to Maria Guresh, a 24-year-old history teacher. Ms. Guresh’s proud mom, writer Tamara Duda, gushed on Facebook about “the great honour” bestowed on her family.

The couple is among the growing number of Ukrainians who have tied the knot since the war began. During the first half of 2022, the number of new marriages in Ukraine reached 103,903 – a 21 per cent jump from the same period of 2021 and the highest in the past seven years, according to data gathered by the country’s statistic committee.

The uncertainty of war is convincing couples not to wait. In a wedding proposal that went viral on social media with more than 2.3 million views, Roman Kolesnik (better known in Ukraine by his military call sign, Roman Dobryak), 24, who lost part of his leg to a Russian tank shell in May, got down on his one good knee to ask his beloved Yulia Matushak, 19, to marry him.

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Roman Dobryak and his beloved Yulia Matushak.Handout

“We realized that only today is the real day we have because what will happen tomorrow is unknown. More and more couples do not delay the weddings but make quick decisions,” said Mr. Kolesnik, who underwent 10 surgeries to deal with the injury he endured fighting on the outskirts of Mariupol.

He said they already had plans to wed, but the war fast-tracked their plans.

Mr. Vorotila and Ms. Guresh had a similar experience. Ms. Guresh said the couple was spurred on by their long separation. Mr. Vorotila’s military service began before the war even started and they were apart for nine months.

As soon as he was given the opportunity to come to Kyiv, they decided immediately to get married. Mr. Vorotila saw the war from the front line and Ms. Guresh from near Bucha, an area that was overrun by Russians early in the war and later liberated. Both faced danger that could have ruined their chance of a life together.

In fact, most newlyweds in Ukraine were registered in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the closest to the front line – there were 13,025 new couples in that region during the first half of 2022.

The famous Ukrainian director, Oleg Sentsov, who also joined the military, quickly got married. Although we planned the wedding, the war still decided a lot for us,” said his fiancée, political scientist Veronika Velch. Mr. Sentsov was released from the front line for only 72 hours, during which the couple wed.

Marriage is also a way to deal with the stresses of war, said psychologist Arina Rozvadovskaya. “Now it is important for our fighters to know that their beloved ones are waiting for them at home,” Ms. Rozvadovskaya explained.

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Ms. Guresh and army commander-in-chief Zaluzhny. Ms. Guresh’s proud mom, writer Tamara Duda, gushed on Facebook about 'the great honour' bestowed on her family.The Globe and Mail

She also noted that there is legislation that protects the rights of married partners to consider. For example, social payments for relatives or wives, allowance for visiting wounded in a hospital or the right to receive someone’s remains – all of these are very difficult for non-official partners to access, but very easy if their marriages are legally registered.

“A wedding is a way to quickly arrange paperwork in case of injury, heroic death and urgent transfer of property. This necessity, of course, does not negate feelings. It just speeds up the decision to get married,” she added.

As the number of marriages rises, the opposite is true of divorces. The number of registered divorces fell by 42 per cent in the first half of 2022 compared with the same period the year before. The decline can be explained by the fact that it’s easier to register a marriage than it is a divorce, said family lawyer Oksana Shevchenko.

In Ukraine, couples with kids can only be divorced by a court decision, which also decides custody. Usually, it takes much more time than the registration of divorce by a couple without children.

But will a surge in hasty wartime marriages result in a rash of postwar divorces? Ms. Rozvadovskaya, for one, doesn’t believe so. “Having gone through the most terrible time in their lives, most likely such spouses will survive any family crises,” she said.

In the meantime, newlyweds such as Ms. Guresh are hoping for the best and praying for victory. “My husband will have a long, happy life in a free country. Let it be,” she said.

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