A mass wedding ceremony was held for citizens with draft notices at a civil registry office in St. Petersburg, local TV channel reports.
The video shows men arriving at the civil registry office from a training camp in the St. Petersburg region. Many of them were in military uniform.
The couples were offered to take part in a special “mass wedding ceremony”, with conscripts and their wives saying “I do” right from their seats in the audience. Then the newlyweds signed their marriage certificates right on their lap. The couples exchanged rings and kissed at the same time between the rows of chairs.
“The reason why St. Petersburg residents are in such a hurry to get married before they are sent to the frontline is clear. First of all, it’s an additional moral support. Their wives will be waiting at home for them. And when the marriage is confirmed and approved by their relatives and the state, it creates a feeling of stability. A feeling of solid ground beneath them,” an off-camera voice says.
The ceremony was attended by St. Petersburg lawmakers who gifted tea sets to the couples.
“Allow me to shake your hand and say thank you. Thank you for not running away, for not being afraid, for being here. Victory will be ours,” lawmaker Vera Sergeeva told one of the couples.
Vera Sergeeva, a St. Petersburg lawmaker, congratulating the newlyweds. Screenshot from the video
“It’s a very good gift, for the entire family. When I come back from war, we’ll drink from it,” Ivan, a conscript from Murmansk, says. “I didn’t expect to have a wedding like that, it wouldn’t have been as emotional at home. Here, I was nearly brought to tears.”
A conscript receiving the gift tea set. Screenshot from the video
Previously, Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova stated that conscripts could get married within a day of applying to the civil registry office.
