Two Ukrainian soldiers get married on Kyiv frontline as Russia withdraws
Two members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces have married on the frontline as Russian troops withdraw from the north of their country.
Anastasiia, 24, and Viacheslav, 43, put aside the war for a few hours to make their vows in a city park in Kyiv, wearing their army combats with weapons draped over their shoulders.
To become more like a bride, Anastasiia wore roses in her hair and clutched a bouquet to walk down a makeshift aisle followed by their fellow soldiers.
The newlyweds showed off their wedding bands shortly after the ceremony, posing for photos in the sunshine amid a break in Russian shelling.
It comes as the Ministry of Defence says Russian forces have “fully withdrawn” from northern Ukraine to Belarus and Russia.
An update posted on social media added: “At least some of these forces will be transferred to East Ukraine to fight in the Donbas."
Vladimir Putin's forces have taken considerable losses since being ordered to invade on 24 February.
Despite repeated claims from the Kremlin that their war is "going to plan", Putin's spokesperson admitted on Thursday that their forces have suffered "significant losses".
Exact figures have not been confirmed, although last month a Nato source put the numbers of Russian soldiers killed at between 7,000 and 15,000.
Dmitry Peskov told Sky News: "We have significant losses of troops and it's a huge tragedy for us."
And in the first hint the Kremlin wants to see an end to the war - although in what form is unknown - he said: "Our military are doing their best to bring an end to that operation.
"And we do hope that in coming days, in the foreseeable future, this operation will reach its goals or will finish it by the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegation."
It also comes as Ukraine accused Russian troops of killing hundreds of civilians in the town of Bucha, just outside of Kyiv.
Russia has refuted claims of mass killings since the town was freed from their control on 31 March, with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claiming footage and images of bodies in the streets were "staged" and Ukrainians had used "fake dead bodies".
However, satellite imagery of the area in the days before Bucha was freed shows at least nine bodies lying in the street for weeks, contradicting Russian claims.
UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Tuesday that while Bucha was under Russian control "not a single civilian suffered from any kind of violence".
Ukraine and Russia are "constantly" holding peace talks online but the mood has been affected by events including the deaths of civilians in Bucha, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday.
On Thursday, Russia was expelled from the UN Human Rights Council after delegates voted 93 to 24 to remove them following allegations of Russian soldiers carrying out mass killings, rape and torture in Ukraine.
The vote came after a push from the US, with the draft text for the vote expressing "grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine".
Fifty-eight nations abstained from the vote.
A two-thirds majority of voting members in the 193-member General Assembly in New York was needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
