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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Tim Hanlon

Ukrainian nurse has first dance at wedding after losing legs to Russian landmine

A Ukrainian nurse has been filmed dancing with her new husband weeks after losing her legs in a horrifying landmine blast.

Oksana, 23, is seen having her first dance with groom Victor after they got married in a small hospital ward with guests looking on giving them a round of applause.

The bride lost her legs and four fingers on her left hand after a mine exploded under her in the eastern city of Lysychansk, on March 27.

The Lviv Medical Association stated that she was heading home with Victor on a “familiar path” and turned to warn her future husband when the mine went off.

While Victor was unscathed, Oksana was badly injured and needed four operations before being taken to Dnipro where her wounds continued to recover.

She has been preparing to have prosthetics fitted for her legs and a week ago the couple were evacuated to Lviv.

"Life should not be postponed until later, decided Oksana and Victor, who in six years together never found time for marriage," the association said.

With all the suffering that has hit the country since Russia ’s invasion on February 24, the video has touched the hearts of many Ukrainians as a demonstration of their resistance.

Ukraine ’s Parliament shared the news of the marriage on their Twitter feed.

It read: “Very special love story.

“A nurse from Lysychansk, who has lost both legs on a Russian mine, got married in Lviv. On March 27, Victor and Oksana were coming back home when a Russian mine exploded. The man was not injured but Oksana’s… legs were torn off by the explosion.”

It continued: “The couple got married in a Lviv hospital where the woman is preparing for prosthetic surgery.

“We wish the young couple happiness and long years together.”

It comes as Boris Johnson is set to hail the resistance of Ukrainians in the face of the brutal Russian invasion as their "finest hour" when he delivers an address to the country's parliament.

Speaking by video link, the Prime Minister will use a speech to the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday to set out details of a new £300 million package of military support for the government in Kyiv.

It follows Mr Johnson's unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital last month, in a show of support and solidarity with president Volodymyr Zelensky.

In his address, the Prime Minister will echo the words of Winston Churchill to the British people during the Second World War, as Mr Zelensky did when he spoke to the Westminster Parliament in March.

"When my country faced the threat of invasion during the Second World War, our Parliament, like yours, continued to meet throughout the conflict, and the British people showed such unity and resolve that we remember our time of greatest peril as our finest hour," Mr Johnson is expected to say.

"This is Ukraine's finest hour, an epic chapter in your national story that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.

"Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free."

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