British metaller marries ex-PM's daughter

A British heavy metal singer married the daughter of Ukraine’s ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko today.

Sean Carr, 36, lead singer of the Death Valley Screamers, and Evhenya Tymoshenko, 25, emerged from the walled Vydubitskiy Monastery to a salute of ringing bells and Scottish bagpipes.

The well-wishers – mainly elderly Ukrainian women – shouted “happiness” in Ukrainian and English.

The couple posed briefly for dozens of photographers, as they sipped champagne.

Carr then smashed his glass down on the pavement, prompting applause from his new mother-in-law, Yulia Tymoshenko, who abandoned her traditional hair braid style and wore her long blonde hair loose.

“The sort of woman like Yulia Volodymyrovna comes around only once in 100 years,” said Lyudmila Zaleskaya, 61, a paediatrician, referring to the ex-prime minister. “Our government, our whole country should be proud of a woman like her. I’m here because of Yulia.”

Ukrainian media reported that the newlyweds had been reluctant to appear before the media, but the charismatic and media-savvy Yulia Tymoshenko persuaded them to pose for photographs.

The newlyweds were driven away in a white, Soviet-era luxury car decked with flowers, while guests – many covered in tattoos and piercings – watched.

Evhenya Tymoshenko, a student at the London School of Economics, met her future husband in a bar at an Egyptian resort.

Tymoshenko lost her government post when President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed her cabinet last month, but she has vowed to reclaim her seat after March’s parliamentary elections.