Defiance of bride in the ruins of her home
DISTRAUGHT yet defiant, a bride stands motionless wearing her wedding dress – a symbol of her future – in the bombed-out remains of the house where she grew up.
Daria Steniukova’s childhood home was hit by a Russian missile during an airstrike on the central city of Vinnytsia which killed at least 24 people last week. The 31-year-old yoga teacher was preparing for her wedding to now-husband Vitaly Zavalniuk, a 30year-old drinks salesman, when the assault happened. The couple wed last Friday but postponed celebrations until the next day because ‘there was mourning in our city,’ the bride said.
In a post on Instagram, Miss Steniukova said she had been robbed of her childhood memories. She told the
Daily Mail she posed for wedding photographer Oleksandr Demianiv ‘because the whole world should know what Russia is doing’.
She added: ‘We wanted to show that you can live during the war.’
It comes as Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran yesterday to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as part of plans to forge closer ties with the likes of Iran, China and India.