More Russian couples have been rushing to get married since the war

That is shown by a report from Radio Free Europe. The article referenced marriage data from Mediazona, which showed that at least 31,000 soldiers in 75 regions said their marriage vows. The marriages took place within a four-week period after Putin’s partial mobilisation decree. On October 22nd alone, at least 104 couples tied the knot. A deputy head in Pytalovo said that in addition to the record numbers of marriages, mobilised soldiers were waiting in lines to “file wills” before heading to war.

“We are marrying them in bunches, several couples at a time,” he said.

While the reasons for marriage may be diverse, Russian wives are entitled to government pay outs amounting to 114,000 Euros (7 million Rubles) if husbands are killed in combat. If a married soldier is injured, the sum is around 3 million Rubles or 48,863 Euros. Spouses are also entitled to have their transportation and accommodation expenses covered by the state if husbands are injured in the hospital.

Convention

According to a National Public Radio (NPR) Report, Tatyana Neustroyeva and Pyotr Kolyadin, both 40, had known each other for decades and had lived together for two years. Tatyana thought marriage was an “archaic convention” while her partner, Pyotr, wanted it, but the time had to be right. As Russia changed course, so did their mindset. As the threat of going to war loomed for Pyotr, marriage became the right thing to do.

“To me, we are facing a world apocalypse,” he said. “And this is like an anchor that you throw forward and maybe somehow it will pull you out. It's kind of an island of order in a world of chaos.”

They married in St. Petersburg, despite long lines for “fast-track registration” and captured their special moment in a photo booth.

Jail

In another case, Kirill Gorodnii and his newly wedded wife, Katya, became shocked at the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine as part of its “special military operation.” Protesting a war can carry jail sentences for up to ten years, but marriage can entitle a spouse to jail visits in cases of arrest. While Kirill admits that these jail visits are a “grim joke,” the deal breaker came when Katya’s employer shut down their Russian office and offered her a job in Dubai. Kirill could only join her if he was her husband. The pair fled to Tbilisi, Georgia, to register their wedding. By pure chance, they found friends there who were able to act as witnesses.

As in the case of Tatyana and her now husband, Pyotr, being married as a family matters most, despite ongoing uncertainty.

"I guess we're coping with the help of love," Tatyana said to NPR. “At least we'll know that we are a family.”