Project by L’Officiel, BACKSTAGE BEAUTY & REFRESH, and the “ZEMLYACHKY” Foundation
For several years, the BACKSTAGE BEAUTY & REFRESH salon network has been cooperating with the charitable foundation “ZEMLYACHKY”, which helps those defending us on the front lines. The foundation provides our soldiers with everything they need so that they can protect our country not empty-handed — and together we bring victory closer.
During this time, together with the BACKSTAGE salon network, the “ZEMLYACHKY” foundation has managed to purchase drones, several thermal imagers, night-vision devices, vehicles, EW (electronic warfare) systems, and essential hygiene kits for the soldiers serving on the front line.
On Valentine’s Day, we wanted to share a bit more warmth and love with our defenders — to give them a chance to feel something precious and human amid the endless February cold.
Today, on 14 February, BACKSTAGE tells the stories of three couples whose looks were created in our beauty salons.
Anastasiia and Oleksandr
Anastasiia and Oleksandr met online in January 2022 — a very common way to get acquainted these days. Anastasiia messaged him first, and he replied right away; that’s how they started talking.
Nastia recalls her first thoughts: I asked him, ‘Where do you work?’ and thought to myself, God, I hope he’s in the military. And then Sasha sent me a photo of himself in uniform, and I thought — that’s it, it must be fate.
We kept chatting, and he immediately suggested meeting. The next day I went to Kyiv, waited for him in the cold for four hours — he finally came, and somehow everything just took off from there. I thought, maybe it really is destiny. That’s how our story began.
Both of them serve in the National Guard of Ukraine. I joined in 2019, before I even knew my future husband. Oleksandr has served since 2014. I’m part of a combat brigade that regularly goes on missions to the combat zone.
Before that, she worked as a medical assistant, a dentist’s assistant.
My husband has been in the military his whole life.
I always liked the army. Deep down, I always wanted to link my life with it and become a soldier — but I never had the courage.
In 2019, a friend wrote to her saying that their unit needed a medic — a combat one — and asked if she was ready.
I just said, ‘Yes, I’m ready,’ without hesitation, without a pause. I agreed right away, and they took me.
She continues: I wanted to join the army partly because my brother had served in eastern Ukraine back in 2014. When the war began, I was a volunteer, helping soldiers however I could. But I wanted to help as a medic too, because there’s never enough of them during wartime. That’s why I joined the army, and at 19 I went east for the first time.
I had no prior military training. When I joined, I was sent for 3.5 months to KMB Kanadske — it’s like a young fighter’s course. That’s when I truly experienced what the army is — the physical, fire, tactical, and medical training.
My husband’s story is similar. He started serving in 2014, defending the south, while I was in the east. He came back to Kyiv in August 2022, and I returned a bit later, in November.
I came to Kyiv from Bakhmut then, and my friend gifted me a certificate for a photo session. I invited Oleksandr to come with me — to do a couple’s photoshoot.
On 17 November, Sasha was also in Kyiv at his military base in Hostomel. We went that day for the photoshoot for two, and he proposed to me right there. We got married on 27 December 2022.
Even though we both serve in the National Guard, despite all the challenges, we have a great relationship. Everything between us is fine — as between a man and a woman. We get along very well and understand each other perfectly because we’re in the same field and share the same profession.
We both know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, so there’s no misunderstandings.
Sometimes it’s hard, of course, because of distance. The longest we’ve been apart was 4.5 months, then three months. When we haven’t seen each other for long, it’s sad… but nothing terrible. I believe we’ll always make up for lost time.
Sofiia and Volodymyr
We met in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone, serving in the same unit. At first, we didn’t pay much attention to each other. Then one day there was a football game planned in a nearby village, and we went.
Volodymyr was playing and injured his finger. I ran over, worried, and asked: ‘Does it hurt? Should I help? Maybe I’m a medic.’ He said: ‘No, no, it’s fine.
But he noticed how concerned I was. Their team won that day. He played really well — before the army, he used to be a footballer.
After that match, he started messaging me, giving compliments, asking to meet. We started chatting more and then dating. It all began on 14 September, I still remember.
The day he proposed, I’ll never forget. I was in hospital then. Volodymyr came to see me, I went outside, and there were 101 roses and a ring. I was sitting on a bench when he got down on one knee and said: Senior Lieutenant Tehliavets Sofiia Volodymyrivna, will you be my wife?
Through tears I said ‘Yes.’ The ring was two sizes too big, but that didn’t matter.
They registered their marriage on 24 December 2022 in Kyiv region.
Her husband had already been serving nearly two years under contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He signed a three-year contract — there’s less than a year left now. Before that, he played football but got injured and couldn’t continue.
In 2017, I signed a contract with the Armed Forces myself, with my parents’ consent. I went for training for four months and was then assigned to a mechanised brigade, where I served for a month.
After that, I entered the National Academy of Ground Forces named after Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi in Lviv. I studied there for four years to become an officer, got my degree, and was then assigned to a combat artillery brigade.
I’ve served since I was 18. I’m 24 now, and I’ve never worked anywhere else — only in the military. You could say I’ve spent my golden years in the Armed Forces.
We returned from rotation in October 2022. Now we’re stationed in a concentration area, waiting for deployment.
In early September 2022, I found out I was pregnant. At first, I didn’t understand why I felt nauseous and dizzy. I took a test — it was positive.
At that time, we were both in different positions. I came to him with a supply vehicle, gave him a box as a gift — an Apple Watch. When he opened it, the test fell out. He froze, didn’t know what to say, then looked at me, kissed me, smiled — and said nothing. He thought I was just unwell, but I was pregnant. He was so surprised and happy — just like me.
Now we’re going to be parents to a little girl — our baby .
Iryna and Pavlo
We met quite simply — on Instagram. I was looking for a videographer, and at that time I was a photographer. That’s how we started messaging. At first it was work-related, and later it turned into a romance.
Every time we worked together, people thought we were already married.
Pavlo proposed to me at our first exhibition, which we held at the Museum of the History of Kyiv. He chose the ring to match the colours of my favourite painting — it was symbolic and
beautiful. That was almost two years ago.
How did we join the Armed Forces? At first, we travelled with a cultural mission — an initiative uniting well-known Ukrainian artists who provide moral and psychological support to soldiers
on the front line. We started going with them as volunteers in spring, and were formally enlisted into the army in autumn.
Now, in the Armed Forces, we continue our work — the same as before the war. We’re in the art field: photographing, filming, and currently creating a museum for our 59th brigade, where we serve. So our work hasn’t changed — just its circumstances.
We also organise exhibitions in major cities around the world and donate all proceeds to charity — for various wartime needs. Our artworks travel globally, and we help raise funds for evacuation vehicles and more.
Our wedding was quite a story. We got married in summer 2022 and the very next day went to Kramatorsk. We laughed that it turned into a wedding trip — right to the front line, where we had many concerts scheduled at that time.
Since 27 December, we’ve been stationed on the Donetsk front, but soon we’ll return to Kyiv together.
Photographer and concept: Iryna Titenko
Three military couples: Anastasiia & Oleksandr, Sofiia & Volodymyr, Iryna & Pavlo
Agency: MELNYKOVA AGENCY