The New Year of 2022 started with high hopes for twenty-seven-year-old Misha Varvarych, a commander in the Ukrainian 80^th Airborne Assault brigade.  He had found the love of his life, and he planned to leave the military and start a family with his eighteen-year-old fiancé, Ira. They’d met online several months before. Even though they felt an instant spark, they spent months getting to know each other through emails, etc., and over the phone before meeting in person. According to Misha, “I could tell her [Ira] anything. She became my friend and then my girlfriend.”  (This post is based upon an NPR interview.)

The first time they met in person, Misha was recovering from a fight he’d been in, and his jaw was wired closed. Not the usual way to make a good first impression. But they still managed a kiss by the end of the evening. At the time, Misha figured, “If she can accept me with all my scars, then she can accept me in every way.” Neither of them had any idea how true that would prove.

They were busy planning their future together when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24^th, 2022, the day before Misha’s discharge from the military was scheduled to go into effect. His heart was torn, but he couldn’t abandon his comrades in arms in the face of all-out war.  He put his dreams aside and rejoined his unit.

Three months later while Misha was on a combat mission in the Lehansk region of the Ukraine, an anti-personnel mine exploded and decimated his legs. It took four hours for his squad to be evacuated. Under fire, six of his men had to carry him a mile and a half to the medical center. His heart stopped beating three times during the process.

Ira was devastated when she heard the news. Misha told her himself. He called her to say he had two pieces of news: “Good one is I am live. The second they cut my legs.” She misunderstood at first and thought he was teasing, but then she realized his legs had been amputated from his knees and below.

Ira had a decision to make. She could stay home and grieve, maybe talk with Misha via video chat when she got the chance, or maybe even consider whether she could endure being in a relationship with someone so severely wounded. Instead, she moved into the hospital and rehab center with him.

This was the love of her life. She wasn’t going to abandon him regardless of the hardships.

For the last seven months, the couple has been sharing a small room with barely enough space for two twin beds and a nightstand in the Truskavets City Hospital in western Ukraine. Ira is dedicated to helping Misha through his surgeries and the long months of rehab.

In the midst of the hospital environment and the struggles of learning how to go about life without legs, Ira and Misha seek normalcy and romantic moments when they can. They go on long walks, with Ira pushing Misha’s chair, they spend hours in the rehab pool where the glorious weightlessness of the water gives them equal mobility, and they manage to play video games, kiss, and flirt.

Their lives are not over. Their love is not over. Like any couple, they have their fights, especially since their daily living space is a small, cramped room, and they are navigating the stress of having their lives turned upside down by war, but they work through their disagreements and forgive.

They are thankful for each other and every moment they have. Their love is rooted in commitment, and neither Putin, the war, nor adversity is going to steal this from them. And they have hope.

At the end of his interview with NPR, Misha stated, “God has plans for me, I need bionic legs to be able to lift my child off the ground in the future.”

Author’s note: In the news report, neither Misha nor Ira professed a personal relationship with the Lord. Ira said that faith is something she usually only thinks of around Easter, except she prayed for Misha daily while he was away at war. And while Misha professes a belief in God, he also jokingly referred to reincarnation. It is my prayer that this young couple will come to know the Lord and that He will see them through their marriage and the days ahead