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Love under anti-drone nets: Ukrainian couple wed in Kramatorsk combat zone

‘At a time when Russia is trying to spread gloom and darkness … it is important to create something beautiful,’ says combat medic Tetiana as she weds army captain Oleksandr

In the bright early afternoon sun of Kramatorsk’s central and now ironically named Peace Square, Tetiana, in her bridal dress, and Oleksandr, in his military uniform, are holding up their phones at the ready. It is a public holiday, 35 years since Ukraine’s declaration of independence, and a popular day for a wedding, though the open-air location is not obviously ideal.

Three days earlier, Kramatorsk, perhaps Vladimir Putin’s principal target, was formally designated part of the combat zone, the front inching towards the city as Russia closes in on the parts of the Donetsk region it does not control. It is quiet at 2pm though; the ceremony brief. There are no guests other than the Guardian team.

Tetiana and Oleksandr pose for a wedding photo on Mount Karachun, near Sloviansk, the scene of fierce fighting in 2014.

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© Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian

Why is the grass green and which was the deadliest dinosaur? The kids’ quiz

29 August 2026 at 09:00

Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.

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© Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

© Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

© Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

Tim Dowling: my TV contract has run out – and so has my patience

29 August 2026 at 08:00

I need to buy a smart television big enough to read ransom notes – and I’m taking no prisoners

Fourteen years ago, I received a text from my eldest son claiming he’d just found the TV face down on the sitting room floor, destroyed. I didn’t entirely buy his theory about the dogs being responsible – I discovered a football lying suspiciously near the crime scene – but it was a problem I needed to solve before my wife returned from a business trip.

That was the last time I bought a new television. It still works, but it’s small by today’s standards, to the extent that it’s impossible to read the contents of a ransom note held by a detective in a drama. As TVs have expanded, the ransom notes have got smaller; I often have to pause the programme, get up and put my nose to the screen.

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© Composite: Selman Hosgor

© Composite: Selman Hosgor

© Composite: Selman Hosgor

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