On the wings of love: Ukrainian couple get engaged during flight over Cork
Sealed with a kiss: Valeriia Hrechana, 25, and her fiance, Alex Vakuliuk, 28, celebrates their engagement in Cork city centre.
Love was in the air for this young Ukrainian couple who got engaged during a scenic flight over Cork.
Valeriia Hrechana, 25, had booked the 'harbours and islands' trip with Atlantic Flight Training Academy (AFTA) as a birthday surprise for her boyfriend, Alex Vakuliuk.
She brought one of his best friends along for the flight but as they all cruised at an altitude of 2,000ft above the city, Alex, 28, turned the tables on her, and surprised everyone on board by producing a diamond ring and popping the question right there and then.
Stunned and shocked, Valeriia said yes before AFTA flight instructor Micheál Brennan turned the Cessna 172 back to Cork Airport for a safe landing where the couple was still on cloud nine.
Valeriia said: “I was a bit nervous about the flight because it was my first time in a small aircraft and it was a bit shakey at the start, but the pilot was so good and professional.
“Alex was in front seat next to the pilot, because it was his birthday, and the pilot let him take the controls for a while.
“And after that, he turned around in his seat, and said ‘Valeriia, thanks for this present, it’s amazing, and I love it, and I love everything you do for me over all these years’, and then he produced a ring, and asked me the big question.
“I started crying and his best friend, Nicholas, started filming us. The captain was shocked, I was shocked, but of course I said yes.”
The couple celebrated in a restaurant with friends later.
The couple, from Kherson in southern Ukraine, began dating six years ago and were living happily until Russia invaded in early 2022.
Their city witnessed heavy fighting during the early days of the invasion and fell under Russian control by March of that year, prompting street protests and a brutal crushing of the resistance by the Russian FSB.
The couple decided to flee. No-one was allowed to enter Ukraine from occupied Kherson so their only route out was through Georgia and from there, to Ireland.
Valeriia’s parents fled to central Ukraine, but her grandparents are still in Kherson.
Ukrainian forces recaptured the city in November 2022 but in June 2023, the city was flooded following the destruction of the nearby Kakhovka Dam.
Valeriia and Alex, who have been living in state provided accommodation in Kinsale, got work within weeks of their arrival, they have both completed courses in the local community college, and today Valeriia works as a barista in the town's Post House coffee shop, while Alex works as a sous chef in Martin Shanahan’s Fishy Fishy restaurant.
She said people have been incredibly supportive since their arrival in Ireland.
“We really appreciate peoples’ support. They have been really supportive of us and they are so happy for us. Irish people are the kindest people in the world,” she said.
“They all said they would like to see a Ukrainian wedding here, but we would like to go home to Ukraine and get married there. So I think we will try to wait for the war to end. We hope that will happen soon, and that we have a city to return to.”
AFTA said this is the first wedding proposal on board one of its scenic flights, and have wished the couple well in their life together.
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