Hundreds in Kyiv pay tribute to military couple who 'died together

Hundreds gathered in the biting cold in Kyiv on Friday to mourn military medic Valentyna Nagorna and soldier Daniil Liashkevych, who fell in love and died together at war a week ago.

"It warms our souls to know that his heart was truly filled with love, as was Valentyna's heart. When the moment came, they met death together" said mourner Anastasia Vasylchenko, 31.

"But we should not romanticise war in the first place. Because war is death and heroes -- people -- die."

Vasylchenko was Liashkevych's ex-wife but she remained friends with him and, like most in the crowd, stayed for both ceremonies held back-to-back in the Baikove crematorium perched on a hill in the Ukrainian capital.

As soldiers carried Nagorna's coffin in the dome-shaped crematorium, her mother's cries grew louder, echoing off the building's concrete walls.

Held up by two men, she then slowly entered the building and went up to the coffin, on which she rested her head as the crowd filled the room.

Fighting back tears, attendee 60-year-old Lyudmyla Levchenko reminisced about Nagorna, who had taught her combat medicine.

"I will never forget her words when she said in the early days 'You realise not all of us will survive until victory, right?' She was preparing us already," she said.

 'Best ones are dying' 

Levchenko served as a combat medic for almost two years, before being discharged from service a few months ago due to her age.

She laughed that her call-sign was Busya -- short for granny -- because she was much older than most of the others in her brigade.

"We have wonderful young people, I admired them, I learned from them and they learned from me... But the best ones are dying."

Nagorna, also known by her call sign Valkyria, joined up on the first day of the war, said Olena Tolkachova who heads the Azov Patronage Service taking care of fighters.

Tolkachova described Nagorna, who died aged 28, as a brave woman who "wanted to help in any way she could."

She could not suppress her anger at Ukrainian men who are not joining the ranks of the armed forces, fighting with little respite since the beginning of the Russian invasion, despite repeated pleas for fresh troops.

"Think about whether you need this country at all. Maybe what you are really saying is that you do not need Ukrainian citizenship, given your unworthy behaviour?" she said.

 'We don't remember' 

A shared patriotic commitment brought the young couple together, said Liashkevych's 33-year-old commander, who identified himself only by the call sign Kostyl.

Their story was only blossoming as they met a few months ago and served together within the Third Assault Brigade.

"They had not been together for long but they held very similar life principles," he said.

"Like him, she very much wanted to get close to the war, instead of sitting somewhere else. She wanted to do her duty and save lives as close to the front line as possible."

The couple's story inspired many in the crowd.

A 24-year-old servicewoman with call sign Dzvinka, said she had long been following Nagorna on social media.

She came to pay hommage with a group of her friends, all in their twenties.

"I want people to know that Ukrainian youth is a radically different world. We do not know and do not remember what it is like to live a relatively carefree life," she said.

"Because people under the age of 30 are dying here, fighting for our future."