Jewish couples from Ukraine were able to peacefully get married for the first time in more than four years, since Russia invaded the country back in February 2022, thanks to the three-day ceasefire agreed to by both nations.
The Jewish Community Center Beit Menachem from Kyiv held a mass wedding ceremony over the weekend that included couples of all ages, including a pair aged 92.
Many of the couples had been living together for several years, with the ceremony during the ceasefire being the only possibility to get formally married amid the war and constant Russian attacks.
“To witness a couple aged 92 entering the chuppah is not something ordinary,” Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch, the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, said, describing the event as one of the most moving moments the community has experienced in recent years.
"We have been living for a long time under the shadow of war, with uncertainty and daily challenges becoming part of normal life. And specifically within that reality, people are choosing to pause and declare: we are continuing the chain of generations, preserving our tradition, and building a Jewish home," he added.
Ukraine-Russia ceasefire holds as both sides accuse each other of violations
The ceasefire, agreed by Russia and Ukraine on Friday, to allow the Victory Day, when both countries celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, was put under strain on Sunday after accusations of violations from both sides.
Three people were killed in Russian drone strikes on areas near the front line, and more than 200 battlefield clashes had taken place since early Saturday, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had refrained from large-scale aerial and missile attacks but continued assaults along parts of the front where its forces are advancing.
"In other words, the Russian army is not observing any silence on the front and is not even particularly trying to," he said in his evening address, adding that Ukrainian troops were responding and defending their positions.
The ceasefire was agreed after US President Donald Trump mediated between both parties, with the president explaining on Truth Social that talks were continuing to move towards an end of the war, and that they are getting closer and closer every day.
Reuters contributed to this report.